Neighborly Conduct
by Lucinders
Summary: AU: Owen Hunt and his girlfriend, Sophie Malloy, have been living together for two years in Apartment 6C. A new couple, Cristina Yang and her boyfriend, Julian Jones moves in Apartment 6D, directly across the hall. This follows how the lives of the two couples intertwine.
1. Chapter 1 Moving in

**A/N: Owen Hunt and his girlfriend, Sophie Malloy, have been living together for two years in Apartment 6C. A new couple, Cristina Yang and her boyfriend, Julian Jones moves in Apartment 6D, directly across the hall. This follows how the lives of the two couples intertwine.**

* * *

He first saw the tiny, curly-haired woman pulling the box into the elevator on a Monday morning at 10 a.m. She was struggling but she was not giving up. As he reached the elevator, he made sure the door stayed open until she had fully pulled the box inside.

She looked up, gratefully. "Thanks," she said, as she looked up from her box. He was taken aback by her delicate face, framed by lots of glossy, ebony hair. "Six, please." He pushed the button for the sixth floor, which coincidentally was the same floor on which he lived. He was certain that she was now moving in, because he would have noticed such a lovely Asian creature before.

"Is anyone helping you?" he asked. She looked winded, as she lay back against the wall of the elevator.

"We're now moving into 6D and my boyfriend, Julian, was supposed to be helping me but he got called away on business, so I am stuck moving these boxes in by myself. The movers already brought all of the furniture but I had some boxes I had in storage that I needed to bring across," she said.

"Well, I can help you," Owen volunteered, immediately. "Just show me the boxes and I will help you bring them up for you. You are rather small to be carrying such heavy boxes."

"If you noticed, I wasn't carrying them. I was pulling the boxes and sometimes, pushing them," she admitted, sorrowfully.

"It's okay, I can help you," he said. As the door opened for the sixth floor, he picked up the box and waited for her to open the door for 6D. As he entered the room, he could see the furniture had been delivered but they were not exactly in what would be ideal positions. There were a lot of boxes already there with labels like crockery, cutlery, glasses, bed linens, etc.

"This is all the stuff the movers delivered," she said. "I still have three more boxes in my car. Since the apartment is bigger, I can bring in some of my personal stuff I had to put away. We had a really small apartment before."

"Where do you want me to put this?" he asked.

"Anywhere is fine," she said. He put down the box. "Well, let's go get those other boxes," he said. She led him down to the parking area, where she opened the back of a Nissan Juke.

"Cute vehicle," he said. It suited her, he thought.

"Yeah, I like it," she said. Owen picked up a box. She was going to attempt to pick up another box. "Leave it," he said. "You can't lift that up. Now that I know where your car is, I will just bring up the rest of the boxes for you."

She looked at him, uncertainly. She didn't even know his name and she was going to hand over the keys of her precious vehicle to him.

"Oh, don't look like that. I am very trustworthy," he said. "My name is Owen Hunt. I live in the apartment directly opposite yours. I am in 6C. I live with my girlfriend, Sophie Malloy." He shifted the weight of the box on to one arm as he put out his hand for her to shake.

She shook his hand, while exclaiming, "Gosh, you are strong. You can hold that box on one arm. I am Cristina Yang and my absent boyfriend is Julian Jones."

They went back into the building and back up to 6D, where Owen put down the box. She handed him her keys and he went back down, twice more to bring up her boxes. When he brought her last box up, he found her looking at everything in the apartment and she seemed a little forlorn. He knew exactly what she was thinking. She had to get the apartment in order.

"Here is your last box, Cristina," he said.

"Thank you, Owen. I am eternally grateful," she said. "Maybe I can invite you and your girlfriend over some time for dinner."

"I would like that. Always good to make new friends among our neighbors," he said. "So I am going to do the neighborly thing and offer to help you put together this apartment. I will help you move the furniture in the best positions and also, help you unpack everything. Seeing that your boyfriend is away, it is a lot of work."

"You're willing to do that? That is so great of you," she said. "By the way, I am sorry that I am monopolizing your time. It must be your day off."

"No, no," he said. "I work at home. I write code. I get projects from my clients and it is not like I have to go into an office to do that. Besides, working at home, means I don't have to wear a suit."

"I fully understand that," she said. "I am a writer. So I work at home, too. I get assignments from clients, maybe do a bit of traveling, interviewing and then write up the story. I like it. That's nice, so we can see each other during the day. In my last building, I was always the only one left at home and there was no one to talk to."

"Yeah, I guess so. We can have tea in the afternoon, when we are on a break. So what does Julian do?" Owen asked.

"Julian is a banker at First American," she said. "What about Sophie?"

"Oh, Sophie is a law associate at Smithson Brothers," he said.

"Oh, so we are both hooked up with corporate kind of people, while we work at home in our pajamas," she said. He grinned. "Well, sometimes, I am in my underwear," he said. He wondered if he should have said that. But her smile back to him, indicated that it was okay.

"Or naked," she said, laughing. He had the immediate picture of her naked. From what he could see, she seemed to have a rather sexy body. The thought brought a smile to his face.

She wondered if she should have said that because, she too, had the image of him, naked at his computer. He was wearing a rather close-fitting t-shirt and she had already admired his broad shoulders and well-built biceps. She wiped the picture from her mind. She could not be thinking about her neighbor like this. After all, she had a boyfriend and was in a relationship for about a year, now.

There was an awkward silence for about 30 seconds before Owen said, "Let's get this place in order." They spent the next three hours, putting the furniture in place and then unpacking and packing away all of the stuff in the boxes. Owen had a project he had to do but he decided he would work on it, later. He was enjoying himself too much with this woman with the long, dark curls. They shared conversation, laughter, beers and a pizza that he ordered.

By the end, they were exhausted and they collapsed on the couch. They looked around, admiring their handiwork.

"This place looks good," she said. "Thank you so much, neighbor."

He looked at his watch. He was not aware that so much time had passed. He had been having too good a time.

"Ooh, I have to go now. I was really supposed to be working on an assignment," he said. "I also have to start dinner."

"I am sorry," she said. "I didn't mean to take you away from your work."

"It really is okay. I haven't enjoyed myself this much in months," he said. "And it wasn't like we were out or anything. It was just great company."

"Thank you," she said. "I had a great time, too. Who knew unpacking could be so much fun?"

"Yeah," he said, laughing. He got up and opened the door. "So I guess I will see you around, Cristina."

"I am certain of it," she said. "After all, we live across the hall from each other."

He went back into 6C and leaned against the door for a moment. For some reason, he felt that flutter of excitement when you meet someone new and attractive. He knew he should not have been feeling this way. After all, he was in a long-term relationship with Sophie, and Cristina was also in a relationship with Julian. He was just fooling himself, he thought. There was no way that she could be interested in him.

Back in her apartment, Cristina thought about her hunky, new neighbor. "My word, he was gorgeous," she thought. "The most beautiful blue eyes." She tried to shake the thought and said aloud to herself, "You have to stop this, Cristina. You are both in relationships. You love Julian."

All that moving and unpacking had made her feel very tired. She crashed on to her bed. Owen had kindly put the sheets on. He really was a great neighbor, she thought, as she closed her eyes. The hours passed and she was only awakened by the sound of the knocking on her door. She looked at the digital clock next to her bed. It was already 6 p.m.

"Gosh," she chided herself. "I have been asleep for so long. Now I won't be able to go to sleep, tonight." She rubbed her eyes and wondered who was at the door. Julian was not supposed to be back until the next day and he had a key, so there was no reason for him to knock.

She got out of the bed and hurried to open the door, but not before checking the peephole to see who it was. It was Owen.

"Hey, neighbor," she said. "What brings you by?"

"Well, I noticed earlier that you hadn't had time to go to the supermarket, as yet, so I brought you some dinner," he said. "It's just soup." It was a rather large bowl that he carried, she noted.

"That is a huge bowl, I can't eat all of that by myself," she said.

"Well, I thought we could share it," he said, sheepishly. "Sophie won't be home until around later and I am hungry now and I thought we could both use the company."

"Yeah, for sure," she said. "Let me get two bowls." She went into the kitchen and took out two bowls. Her shirt went up as she put up her arms to get the bowls, revealing some flawless, creamy skin. He swallowed hard.

She placed the bowls and two spoons on the table, as Owen ladled the soup into the bowls.

"Ooh, that looks good, Owen," she said.

"Well, give me the verdict after you taste it," he said. She swirled around the soup with her spoon before she took her first sip. "Mmmm….that is awesome," she said. "So you are not only good-looking, you are a great cook, too."

Did she just say that he was good-looking? He felt rather flattered that she thought so. They both sat in silence as they had their soup. "That just about hit the spot," Cristina said. She couldn't help it when she made a small burp.

"Excuse me, I am so embarrassed," she said, putting her hand to her mouth. He laughed. "Do you know in some cultures if you don't burp, the cook is insulted? Well, I would consider that to be a compliment."

They sat there and chatted for a while, talking about everything under the sun. It was already 8 p.m. when he decided to leave.

"Well, Sophie must be home by now," he said. "So have a good night. I will talk to you, tomorrow."

"Yeah, Owen. Thanks, once again for all of your help, today. Helping me move in and bringing me food. I hope all of the neighbors in the building are as nice as you," she said. She walked him to her door and gently closed the door, when he left.

Owen went into his apartment. Sophie was sitting at the table, having a bowl of soup.

"Hey," he said. "You are home."

"Yeah, where were you? I have been here for about an hour," she said.

"Oh," he said. "There is a new couple moved in 6D. Just took across some soup," he said. "Just being neighborly."

"Are they an improvement from Jasper?" she asked. "He was a nutcase. Playing his bongos at all hours of the night. I am glad he moved out." She picked up the newspaper to catch up with the day's events.

"Yeah, it certainly is a vast improvement," he said, as he took his bowl to the kitchen to wash it.

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**A/N: Please leave your comments. Thanks for your thoughts.**


	2. Chapter 2 A day together

**A/N: Thanks for all of the fabulous reviews on my first chapter. I felt that I should respond to one review from "greygal" who chided me about finishing up my other stories, before I started a new one. I was a little offended by this because my ability to write a new story does not really affect how I write my other stories. Yes, it is true that I am currently writing seven stories at the same time but I have managed to update each of them on a fairly regular basis. Also, five of my seven stories have already reached their 20-something chapter, so that means some of them may be ending in the near future. And the reason I write so many stories at the same time is that when it isn't flowing on one story, I can always work on a different one.**

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He was returning from his morning jog and picking up the newspaper, when he saw her closing her front door. She was carrying a couple of those reusable grocery bags. She dropped her keys on the floor and he saw her bend over, giving him a really good look at her firm butt in her snug jeans.

"Good morning, Cristina," he said, with a smile. She looked at him from between her legs and then, straightened up. "Oh, hi, Owen," she said. "Just picking up my keys. Did you just come from a morning jog?"

"Yup," he said. "I try to jog every day. Keeps me in shape."

"Oh, you are so healthy," she said. "I feel ashamed that I don't do more exercise." He could have told her that she still looked good without the exercise but instead, he said, "You should come out with me, one of these days. It will help perk you up for the rest of the day. Are you headed to the grocery?"

"Yeah, you saw the state of my pantry. I am a regular Mother Hubbard," she said. "Besides, Julian is coming back, tonight and it would be a good thing to have some food in the house. Don't you think?"

"Yeah," he said. "Well, if you don't mind waiting for me, we can go to the grocery together. I have a couple of things I need to pick up."

"No, I don't mind. Besides, I didn't know where the grocery was. I was just going to drive around until I saw it," she said. "This way, you can take me directly to the grocery."

"Great, why don't you wait in my apartment? I will get you some coffee and I will just take a quick shower," he said.

"Okay," she said. He opened his door and allowed her to step inside.

"Hey, this is just like my apartment, except everything is on the opposite side," she said.

"Yeah," he said. "It is." He went to the kitchen and made her a cup of coffee. He handed her the newspaper. "Take a read. I will be back in a jiffy." He went into his bedroom to take a quick shower and to change his clothes. Cristina took a look around the apartment. It was very nicely furnished. It looked like he and his girlfriend had lived there for a while. He saw the picture of him and the woman with the sandy brown hair. That must be Sophie, she thought. Sophie was a pretty woman with appeared to be tall and slender. In the picture, she seemed almost as tall as Owen. Since Owen was a six-footer, she was probably around five foot nine or five foot ten, Cristina surmised. That was a far cry from Cristina's small stature. She wondered when she would be able to meet Sophie because it seemed clear that the lady of the apartment had already left for the day. She opened the paper and found the lifestyles and entertainment section and started to read, while sipping her coffee.

Owen toweled himself off in the bedroom after his shower, took a whiff of his underarms and put on some deodorant. There was no way he was going to offend Cristina with any embarrassing body odor. He pulled on a pair of jeans over his boxer briefs and then, found an unwrinkled, clean, pale grey t-shirt. He looked at himself in the mirror and raked his fingers through his still damp hair. He hoped he looked presentable enough. He opened his door and looked at her sitting on the couch, reading the newspaper. Her raven curls had fallen into her face and he had the desire to brush them back behind her ear.

"Hey," he said. She looked up at him, noting that the pale grey shirt went well with his blue eyes.

"Hey, yourself," she said. "Just catching up with the lifestyles and entertainment section. Checking out what good movies are on at the Cineplex. Good thing about working at home. You can go to the movies, whenever you need a break."

"You do that? So do I," Owen said. "Writing code can get a bit tedious, sometimes. Maybe, we can catch a movie together, sometime, when we both need to get away from our work."

"Yeah, I would like that," Cristina said. "Better to go with someone. The ticket guy always think you are pathetic because you are only buying one ticket in the middle of the day. At least, with you there, I won't look like the loser he thinks I am."

"Aw, no one thinks that. You are too pretty to be a loser," he said. It did not escape Cristina's attention that Owen said that she was pretty. She blushed a little.

"Oh, you are just being kind," she said.

"No, I am not. If you are a loser, then I am a loser, too, because I buy one ticket, too," he said. "Though it would be nice to tell the ticket guy that I am buying two tickets."

"Yeah, let's do that," she said. "So are you ready?"

"Yup, whenever you are," he said. "Just let me get my grocery bags from the cupboard." He brought out several grocery bags. "Do you want to take my truck? It's bigger than your Juke."

"Okay," she said. She followed him out of the apartment, about three steps behind him. It gave her a great look at his well-defined back and broad shoulders. She noted the strong V-shape from his broad shoulders to his trim waist. He looked back at her. "Hey, why are you walking behind me?" He waited for her to catch up with him.

"Oh, it's just that your legs are much longer than mine and you cover more ground in one of your strides than I do in one of mine," she said.

"Okay, I will remember that and try not to walk so fast," he said. He pushed the down elevator button. The doors opened to reveal a rather curvaceous brunette in a leopard-skin jumpsuit. Owen inwardly groaned. It was Jacinta Thompson, who lived on the seventh floor with her older husband, David. Jacinta always made Owen feel uncomfortable because she always gave him the eye, even though she was a married woman.

"Oh, hello, Owen," Jacinta purred. Cristina noted the seductive way the woman said Owen's name. She could sense Owen's discomfort, immediately and somehow, it amused her.

"Hello, Jacinta," Owen said, as he allowed Cristina to enter the elevator before him.

As the doors closed, the smell of Jacinta's perfume burned their nostrils. "Aren't you going to introduce me to your friend?" Jacinta continued to purr.

"This is Cristina Yang, she is one of new neighbors. She moved into Jasper's old apartment," Owen said. Cristina turned around and gave the woman's hand a small shake. "Cristina, this is Jacinta Thompson. She lives on the seventh floor."

"Ah, that Jasper. So glad he moved out. All that bongo playing in the wee hours of the morning. His apartment was directly under ours," Jacinta said. "So that means your apartment is now under ours, Cristina. Do you live alone?"

"Oh, no," Cristina said. "I live with my boyfriend, Julian." Owen was elated when the doors of the elevator opened and revealed the lobby of the building. He made sure the door stayed open, while Jacinta and Cristina exited. "See you around, Owen," Jacinta said, as she slinkily walked off. Owen looked at Cristina, who had a knowing smile on her face. "Don't you say anything," he warned.

"What? What?" Cristina said. "I am just noticing that a woman finds you attractive. She isn't wrong about that." She chortled. He laughed, too. They went out into the parking lot to his very large truck. He opened the passenger side door for her and helped her up. "That's quite a climb," she said.

"Not for me," he answered. "Well, you've probably got seven or eight inches in height on me," she responded. He grinned at her. He got in on the other side. "Are you all buckled up?" She nodded in the affirmative.

They drove off to the grocery, which turned out to be a couple of blocks away. "Ah, here we go," Owen said, as he pulled into the parking lot.

"I think I could have found this," Cristina said. She opened the door and he could see she was struggling to get down. "Hold on," he said. "I will help you down." He went over to the other side and placed his arms around her tiny waist and helped her down on solid ground. "I don't have these problems in my Juke," she said. They picked up their bags and headed to the grocery. They each got their own shopping cart and split up in the grocery to find what they needed on their list. Cristina finished faster than Owen, since she had fewer items than he did. She got to the cashiers' area and wondered if he had checked through, already. She asked one of the cashiers, a brassy-haired older woman, "Did a tall, blonde, attractive man in a pale grey shirt come through as yet?"

"Honey, if a tall, blonde drink of water, like you just described, came through, I would have noticed," the cashier named Lula said.

"Okay, thanks," Cristina said. She decided to take a look around for Owen. As she went down one aisle, Owen came up on the next aisle to the cashiers' area. Lula knew that this was the person the tiny Asian woman was looking for.

"Hey," Lula said. "Your girlfriend was just looking for you. She just went down the snacks aisle." For a moment there, Owen wondered why Sophie would be at the grocers. He knew she was at work. Then, he realized that Lula was not talking about Sophie but Cristina. He was going to correct her but he changed his mind. So what if Lula thought that Cristina was his girlfriend, it didn't matter, anyway. "So she went down the snacks aisle?" Lula nodded. His little girlfriend was so darn lucky, she thought.

Owen turned into the snacks aisle. He could see Cristina's curly hair bouncing, as she pushed her shopping cart. "Cristina," he called out. She turned around. "Hey, I was looking for you," she said. "I am done." She looked at his cart. "Wow, that is a lot of groceries. I thought you only had a couple of items."

"Yeah," he said. "It is a couple of items. I do like to cook."

"Ooh, really. I should get to know you, much better," she giggled. "Always love someone who can cook well. That soup last night was pretty darn delicious."

"Thanks. I am through, too, so let's go and cash," he said.

They ended up at Lula's station. "So you found each other?" Lula said, looking at the two of them. She thought that they made a good-looking couple. He was so big and strapping and she was so tiny and delicate with her lush, dark curls.

"Yeah," Cristina said.

"Honey, he is exactly as you described him," Lula said. Cristina smiled.

"How did you describe me?" Owen said, as he emptied their groceries for Lula to cash. Cristina was on the other side, filling up their bags with their groceries, as Lula cashed.

"I just asked her if she had seen a tall, blonde guy in a pale grey shirt," Cristina said.

"Honey, you forgot the most important word," Lula said. "You said he was attractive."

"Okay, I said that, too," Cristina admitted, sheepishly. Owen grinned at her.

When they got back to the apartment building and on to their floor, Owen turned to her. "You want to help me cook lunch?"

"Sure," she said. "You don't have to do an assignment today?"

"Nope, I finished that, yesterday. I am free, today," he said.

"Well, okay then, let me just put my groceries away and I will be with you in five minutes," she said. True to her word, she showed up at his apartment door. As she followed him to his kitchen, she said, "I have to admit that I am not a very good cook."

"That's okay, I am sure you can use a knife. You can help with the preparations. Chop up some veggies for me," he said, handing her a knife and a cutting board.

"That I can do," she said, as she started slicing up the vegetables. "Be careful," he warned. "The knife is sharp." For the next hour or so, they chatted easily, as they prepared their lunch. Then, they sat down and ate the fruits of their labor. After chowing down heartily, Cristina lay back on her chair. "You are going to get me so fat. That was so awesome," she said.

"That's why you have to come running with me in the mornings, so you can eat heartily with me, everyday," he said.

"I guess so," she said. She looked at her watch. "I really don't want to eat and rush out of here but I think I am going to the movies, unless you want to come with me."

"What's showing?" he said.

"New sci-fi movie," she answered.

"Okay, I am game," he said. "Let me just put the dishes in the sink. Will wash that when I get back. So, let's go."

They headed out to the Cineplex. When Owen said, "Tickets for two," they both looked at each other and laughed because they knew that they usually just bought a single ticket. Armed with popcorn and soda, they spent the next two and a half hours, giggling at the ridiculousness of the movie. They both came out of the movie theatre in uncontrollable fits of laughter.

"Man, that was just ludicrous," Owen said. "They probably didn't know that they were making a comedy."

"Yup," she said. "The movie was bad but the company was great."

"I must agree," he said, as they got into his truck and drove back to their apartment building.

As they got to their floor, Cristina noticed that her door was slightly ajar. "Oh, my God, is someone in my apartment? Look at my door."

"Stay here," he said. He got into his apartment and retrieved a baseball bat from his hallway closet. He slowly pushed open the door and entered, quietly.

There was a tall, dark-haired man, seemingly shifting the pictures on the fireplace mantel.

Owen yelled, "What the hell are you doing here?"

The man turned around, totally startled. "I should be asking who the hell are you."

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**A/N Please leave your comments. Thank you for your reviews. They do help in the writing process.**


	3. Chapter 3 Owen meets Julian

"What are you doing in Cristina's apartment?" Owen shouted at the dark-haired intruder.

"I live here," the stranger yelled back. Cristina came to the open doorway.

"Julian? What are you doing here?" she said.

"What do you mean what am I doing here? I live here," Julian said in a calmer voice.

"Owen, it's okay. This is my boyfriend, Julian," Cristina said, turning to Owen. Owen put down the baseball bat. She looked at her boyfriend, "I thought you said you were coming home at seven tonight. It is only 4.30."

"Well, the meetings ended earlier than I thought and I caught an earlier flight," Julian said. "Thought I would come home and see my baby. Just wasn't expecting this kind of greeting."

"Sorry about that," Owen said. "I am Owen Hunt, your next door neighbor. I live across from you in Apartment 6C." He went forward and shook the dark-haired man's hand.

"Well, at least I am glad to know that Cristina is adequately protected, when I am not here. Julian Jones is the name," Julian said. He looked at Cristina. "Aren't I going to get a kiss and a hug?" She went to him and he enveloped her into his arms, while he kissed her on the forehead. Owen suddenly felt very weird, seeing this display of affection between Cristina and her boyfriend.

"Well, I think I better go back to my apartment," Owen said.

"You don't have to," Cristina said in a muffled voice, her face still buried in her boyfriend's chest.

"Yes, I have to. I have to give you guys some privacy," Owen said. "Nice to meet you, Julian." He turned and headed back into 6C. He leaned back into the door, as he shut it. He and Cristina had been living in a kind of bubble for the past two days, where their significant others did not exist. Back to real life, he thought.

Back in 6D, Julian was still hugging Cristina. "So I see you already made friends, Cristina," he said. Cristina glanced up at him and said, "Owen has been pretty nice to me for the past two days. He helped me move in, since you were not here. He brought up my boxes and helped me arrange the furniture and unpack our stuff. He even cooked me dinner."

"That was very neighborly of him," Julian said, his green eyes staring intently at her. "Is he single?"

"No, he lives with his girlfriend," Cristina said. "Though I have not met her as yet. I think she is a lawyer."

"Ah," Julian said, glad to hear that the handsome, blonde man was not available. "So where were you two coming from?"

"We went to see that new sci-fi movie at the Cineplex," Cristina said. "It was just awful. We laughed so much, it was so bad. If we hadn't laughed, we probably would have wasted our money."

"So you got someone to go to the movies with you. That's nice," Julian said. "So what about dinner tonight? Do you want to go out?"

"Yeah, if you want. But I did get some groceries this morning, if you want to cook, instead. We were sadly lacking," she said, going to the cupboards and showing that they were no longer bare.

"How did you find the grocery?" Julian asked. He knew that Cristina did not know the area very well.

"Oh, Owen took me this morning," she said. "it is a pretty nice grocery. One of those giant chain supermarkets."

"He has been very helpful," Julian noted. A little too helpful, he thought.

"Yup," Cristina nodded. "He has been a godsend."

"Okay, well, let me just take a bath and we will go explore a restaurant in the neighborhood. One of the reasons I wanted to move here was the variety of restaurants we had here. I know you're not much of a cook and we could always use a good place to eat," he said, heading to their bedroom.

"Stop dissing my cooking skills," she said. "One of these days, I am going to surprise you."

"Yeah, you do that, baby. I have known you for a year and you have yet to cook a decent meal," he said, laughing.

"Ha, ha," Cristina said. She will show him. Owen will teach her to cook something, she thought to herself.

* * *

Later, Owen watched from his window, as Cristina and Julian left in his rather showy BMW convertible. He figured Julian would have driven a vehicle, such as that.

"What are you doing?" Sophie asked. She was at the table, having her dinner and reading the newspaper.

"Just looking at our new neighbors," Owen said. "Cristina's boyfriend came back from his business trip, today. I met him, today."

"Is he nice?" Sophie asked, pushing back her long, blonde hair behind her ears.

"He seems okay," Owen said. "Nice enough, I guess. I don't think he is the bongo-playing type like Jasper." Not a stiff, corporate type like Julian, he thought. Julian would not be caught playing bongo drums or anything like that. He wondered what Cristina saw in him. He was a good-looking man, Owen had to admit. But his personality was certainly not what Owen expected Cristina to be attracted to. He expected Cristina to have an affinity to someone like himself, in terms of personality.

"And for that, I am grateful," Sophie said. "I praised the day that Jasper moved out."

"Oh, excuse me," Owen said. He was not quite sure what she was talking about because he was so lost in his own thoughts.

"You were saying that her boyfriend was not the bongo-playing type and I was telling you that I was thankful for that," Sophie said. "What's the matter with you? You seem so absent-minded."

"I am sorry," Owen said. "I think I will head to bed, right now."

"This early?" Sophie said, surprised.

"Yeah, just feeling a little tuckered out," he said, as he headed to their bedroom. Later, when Sophie joined him in bed, he pretended he was asleep but he wasn't. He listened to her even breathing, which indicated that she had fallen asleep, before he turned away and opened his eyes. He was feeling extremely conflicted. Sophie was right next to him, yet all he could do was think about his dark-haired neighbor with the shiny, raven curls. This was wrong, he thought but he could not help himself.

* * *

The next day, he came back from his morning jog with bagels and coffee. He took a quick shower, changed into some clean clothes and then, went knocking on Cristina's door. He could hear her, shuffling inside. She opened the door, a little dishevelled. She was wearing a night shirt and her curly hair was pointing in all directions.

"Did I wake you?" he said.

"Yeah, Julian and I were out late last night, trying out one of the restaurants in the neighborhood," she said, as she turned her body to allow him to come in.

"So where is Julian?" he asked.

"Oh, he left for the office, already. First day back after a business trip. He said he needed to get cracking on all of his work," she said. "He left about half hour ago." Owen handed her a cup of coffee.

"I am so grateful for this," she said. "You have no idea." They went to her table, and he watched as she tucked one of her legs under her body, while she swung her free leg. She looked like an adorable little kid, who just woke up from bed.

"So what are your plans for today?" he asked.

"Oh, I got an assignment, last night. I have to interview this artist, who lives in the Hills. Apparently, he is 70 years old and is now starting to get recognized. His work is now in all of the chic downtown galleries. I am going to ask him all about his life and work and what it means to him to be finally recognized, even though it was so late in life," she said. "It is for a magazine."

"Ah," Owen said. "That sounds really interesting."

"I think he would make an awesome subject. Hey, if you are not busy, do you want to come along? I see him around 9 this morning," she said. "You could see me at work."

"Yeah, sure," he said. "I got another project. But I will start that after lunch. We should be back by then, right?"

"Yeah, we could have lunch and then come back home. I could start writing this up," she said.

They had breakfast and then she got dressed for her interview. They used her Juke to drive to the Hills to meet Mortimer Gladstone, artist extraordinaire. Gladstone lived in an early 20th century Mediterranean style home.

"Isn't this gorgeous?" Cristina said. "I love Mediterranean architecture. When I get married, I want to get one of these houses and fix it up."

"Yes, it is beautiful," Owen said. He also had an affinity for Mediterranean style homes, too. That was something they both had in common.

When the man with the wild white hair and the bright blue eyes opened the door, Cristina said, "Mr. Gladstone, I am Cristina Yang. Watercolors magazine sent me over to interview you."

"Ah, yes, welcome, young lady. And this is your young man?" Gladstone said. Neither corrected him on his misconception.

"I am Owen Hunt," Owen said, shaking the older man's hand and noting that he had a very strong grip.

They were ushered into a very large living room that was also doubling as an artist's studio. Cristina took numerous pictures of his works in progress, as well as many of the artist at work. They, then settled down for the interview. He proved to be a very interesting guy, who had not painted when he was younger because he had a family to feed and had worked as a homebuilder to provide for his children. It was only when he turned 60, he first picked up a brush and started painting as a form of solace when his wife died of cancer.

It turned out that he was great and through word of mouth, people started hearing of his work and liked what they saw and he started getting commissions. He had been amazed that he could actually make a living doing this. When his work started seeing the insides of all of the exclusive LA galleries, he was the one who was most surprised.

"So how do you feel getting recognized for your work, so late in life?" she said.

"I always believe that everything happens for a reason. My wife's death was what led me to start painting. Don't get me wrong, I loved my wife but if she had lived, I would not be painting and probably just pottering around in my garden. I would have never known that I had this talent. As for getting recognized so late in life, it was just my time. It was my destiny. The stars lined up in my favor for this to happen to me at the age of 70," he said.

"So you believe in destiny?" Cristina asked.

"Yes, the people we meet; the places we end up; the things we do. It was supposed to happen that way. It may not happen, immediately but if you're supposed to be with someone, life just pushes you into that direction. It is unexplainable," he said. "I met my wife, when I was working on a house in the Valley. She was lost and asked me for directions. If she hadn't been lost, we would never have met. It was our destiny to meet."

"That's beautiful," Owen said. "If two people are meant to be together, then it is just fate."

"Yup," Gladstone said. "Like you two. You found each other." Cristina was about to explain that they were not together but she changed her mind. She took Owen's hand into hers and said, "Yes."

When they drove back to Santa Monica, Owen asked, "Why didn't you tell him that we weren't together?"

"He had such a lovely sentiment about destiny putting people together," Cristina said. "And I didn't want to ruin it." She looked at him. "Besides, there was no harm in it."

"No, so do you want to go to a beachfront restaurant and watch the ocean?" he asked.

"Sure," she said. Owen was quiet. He wondered if the old man was right that if you were meant to be together, then it was going to happen. He looked at Cristina, the wind whipping her hair back. She looked beautiful. She turned and smiled at him. Her smile was like sunshine and made him feel warm and loved.

* * *

**A/N: Please leave your reviews. I do appreciate reading what you think about this.**


	4. Chapter 4 Dinner double date

Sophie was closing her apartment door, when she saw the small Asian woman come out of the elevator, reading a newspaper. She had the most amazing dark curls that Sophie had ever seen. She stopped at 6D and pulled out her keys to open the door.

"You're Cristina, right?" Sophie asked. The dark-haired woman looked up. She had to look up. Sophie was tall and was also wearing four-inch heels to add to her height. The woman looked like a blonde Amazon.

"Yes, you must be Sophie," Cristina said. "Very nice to meet you. Owen has mentioned you to me."

"And he has mentioned you to me, too," Sophie said. No wonder Owen helped her out so much. Cristina was a tiny creature, who looked like she needed help. She probably triggered off his protective instincts, Sophie thought.

"Owen has been very kind to me," Cristina said. "He helped me move in and was good enough to cook a meal or two for me."

"Ah, yes, he is a good cook," Sophie said. "Maybe you guys can come over some time for dinner. Of course, I would have to give Owen some heads up about that, so he could go shopping and prepare a menu."

"That would be nice, " Cristina said. "I am sure Owen would cook something really great. The few meals he has fed me have been delicious."

"Okay, on my way out, now. Going off to work," Sophie said.

"Okay, have a great day," Cristina said, as she opened her door and went in. Sophie headed out to the elevator and pressed the button. As she stepped into the elevator, she made a mental note to discuss with Owen, inviting their newest neighbors over for dinner.

Fifteen minutes later, the elevator opened and Owen had returned from his morning run. He was hot and sweaty. He was carrying coffee and muffins. He went into his apartment, took a quick shower and changed into some fresh clothes. He picked up the coffee and muffins and headed out to the corridor, where he knocked on 6D.

She opened the door and gave him a huge smile. "Good morning, my handsome neighbor. Have you come bearing gifts?"

"Just coffee and muffins," he said, walking over to the dining table. He pushed across her cup of French vanilla coffee, while he had his normal, black coffee. She gratefully took a sip. She had been waiting for him, as she usually did every morning to bring her coffee. She pulled out an apple streusel muffin and bit into it. "Ah, this is a good one, Owen," she said. "I like this one. You always find something that I would like."

"Okay, I will note that the apple streusel was a winner on the Cristina taste-buds scale for future reference," he said. He sat down and started munching on a blueberry muffin.

"Guess who I met?" she said, teasingly.

"I can't guess because you haven't met much people around here. It could be anybody," he said. "Just tell me."

"I met Sophie this morning," Cristina said. As soon as she said it, the hairs on the back of Owen's neck rose. He knew the time would come when they would both meet. He didn't expect he would have such a strange reaction to the news. Then, he realized why. He wanted to keep his two worlds separate – his real life with Sophie and this strange fantasy life he had with Cristina where it almost seemed like they were a couple in the first throes of a relationship.

"Oh," he said. "That's great. I was hoping that you would meet some time but she leaves so early and comes in so late that it would have made it hard."

"I went to get a newspaper. One of my articles is in it," she said. "Otherwise, I would not have got out of the apartment, this early."

"Really? Let me see it," he said. She handed him the newspaper. He saw the lifestyle article with her byline under it. He intently started reading it. After finishing it, he turned to her, "This is terrific. You are a great writer."

"Thank you," she said. "I rather like this one myself."

"I wish I could show you my work but code is not very sexy," he said.

"Well, maybe not, but I guess what the program can do in the end, may be," she said. "If it weren't for people like you, where would all of those apps that we use everyday come from? We need you guys."

"Thank you," he said. "So what are you doing today?"

"I don't know," she said. "Maybe just laze around. I don't have an assignment today. What about you?"

"Not much," he admitted, hoping he could laze around with her.

Just then, his phone rang. It was Sophie. "Just let me take this," he said. Cristina nodded.

"Hey," he answered. "What's up?"

"I met our little neighbour this morning," Sophie said. "Cristina. You didn't tell me she was so tiny. No wonder you have the urge to help her. Anyway, I was thinking that since they were so new in the building if they would like to come over for dinner. I already told her that we would like to invite them over. Do you think you can do it tonight?"

Owen paused. Then he answered, "Sure, that is a great idea."

"I am glad you think so," Sophie said. "You can head out to the grocers, grab some stuff and maybe they can come over, tonight. So why don't you pop over to her apartment and invite them over?"

"Okay," Owen said. "I will do that." Little did Sophie know that Owen was already over at Cristina's apartment, comfortably seated at her dining table and drinking a cup of coffee.

"Great," Sophie said. "I will see you later."

"Yes," he said. He hung up and looked across at Cristina. "That was Sophie. She wanted me to invite you and Julian over for dinner tonight."

"Yes, she did mention that to me," Cristina said. "If you are asking if we want to come over, the answer would be yes. Julian and I would love to come over."

"Okay, that gives me something to do for the day. I just have to pop over to the grocers and get something for our dinner," he said.

"If you want," she said. "I can come with you to the grocers and help you prepare the dinner. Now, you know I won't be doing the cooking but I will help in other ways like cutting veggies and cleaning up."

"Your company and your help are always welcome," he said. "Come on, let's head out." They went off to the grocers and came back with two bags of goodies. They headed straight to Owen's kitchen.

"So what are we cooking today?" she asked.

"I was thinking of doing a roast, garlic potatoes, a medley of vegetables and dinner rolls. So how does that sound?" he asked.

"Yummy, my stomach will thank you tonight," she said. "What do you want me to do?"

"We are just going to do prep this morning, so I just need you to help cut the vegetables, the onions and garlic," he said.

"Okay," she said, taking out a knife out of the block. He watched as she carefully cut all of the vegetables. She was a picture of concentration, as she did it. He enjoyed these moments with her, when they were just doing simple, everyday things. As she cut the vegetables, he seasoned the meat.

When she was done, she said she would come back and help him cook, if he needed. He told her that it wasn't necessary. All she had to do was show up at 6 p.m. She grinned at him, as she left. He was such a great guy, she thought as she went back into her apartment.

She lay back on her sofa. Not only was he a great guy, he was handsome. Not in a pretty boy kind of way but in a rugged kind of way. She liked that. He was like a man's man. The few weeks that she had spent getting to know him had been very much fun. She had really enjoyed being around him. She wished Julian had the time to spend with her like that but he was always working long hours. She had called him and told him that they were going over to Owen's place for dinner, when she had gone to the grocers. Julian promised that he would come home in time. She hoped that he would keep his promise.

* * *

At 6.00 p.m., she walked across to Owen's apartment. Julian had not come home as yet. She had called him several times to remind him and still, he had not come home in time. She was really peeved. It was so embarrassing not to show up, when you've been invited to someone's home for dinner. She knocked on Owen's door, with a bottle of red wine in her hand.

"Hi, I have to apologize. It is just me. Julian hasn't come as yet," she said. She stepped in and saw how Owen had dressed up the dining room table with flowers and fine china settings. "Oh my, look how great the table looks," she said. "It's gorgeous, Owen. You really are good at these things."

He said, "Watching HGTV really helps. But you don't have to apologize about Julian's absence. Sophie hasn't come home in time, either. Ironic, too, because she is the one who wanted this dinner." He took a look at her. She was wearing a fitted, cranberry dress that went well with her dark hair, dark eyes and creamy skin. Her ebony curls were shining as they cascaded down her back.

"You look lovely," he said.

"Thank you, Owen. You look pretty good yourself," she said. He was certainly more dressed up than she had ever seen him in a blue blazer over a white shirt and dark pants.

"Well, I thought I better look a little more spiffy, with company coming over," he said.

"You succeeded," she said. "How long do you think we have to wait for Sophie?"

"I called her and she said that she would get here in 15 minutes. What about Julian?" he asked.

"Julian is in some meeting and I kept leaving messages with his assistant. She must hate me and think that I am a neurotic girlfriend, who can't deal without her boyfriend," Cristina said. "I am so mad at him. He knew he was supposed to come home early."

"It's okay. With Sophie not here, we are kind of even. I am mad at her because it was she, who wanted this dinner and for her to be late, that is terrible," he said.

"What about your roast? I hope it won't be ruined, while we wait for them," Cristina said.

"No, it is going to be fine. I know Sophie too well, so I didn't start cooking it until late. She says 15 minutes but it will be more like half hour to 45 minutes," he said. "It should be okay."

They chatted for about another half an hour, when Sophie burst into the apartment, her blonde hair flying. "I am so sorry that I am late, Cristina. I am a terrible hostess but I am sure Owen has been keeping you entertained. Let me just go take a quick shower and change my clothes." Sophie rushed past and headed to their bedroom.

"See, I told you that she would take longer than that," Owen said.

"Well, at least, Sophie is here. Julian is the one who still hasn't shown," Cristina said. "I am going to call him again." She was getting angrier by the minute. She picked up her phone and dialed her boyfriend.

"Julian, where the hell are you?" she whispered, angrily.

"I am on my way, Cristina. I will be there in 10 minutes. Good God, why did you agree to this dinner date with these people?" Julian said. "You really caught me on short notice."

"Okay, just be here," she said. She hung up the phone and turned to Owen. "He says he is on his way and will be here in 10 minutes."

"That is enough time for Sophie to come back out and for me to take out my roast out of the oven," Owen said.

Thirteen minutes later, there was a sharp rap on the door. Cristina ran to the door to open it. She was relieved to see that it was Julian.

"Finally!" she said. Julian kissed her on the cheek. The two men shook hands. "My apologies, Owen, I was caught up in a meeting."

"It's okay, my girlfriend was late, too," Owen said.

"Oh, good," Julian said. "Where is she?"

"She's in the bedroom. She will be out, momentarily," Owen said. As he said that, the bedroom door opened, again.

Sophie said, "My apologies, folks." When she caught sight of Julian, she turned white as a sheet. "Julian, what are you doing here?"

"Sophie," Julian answered. Cristina and Owen looked at the two of them with puzzled expressions.

"You two know each other?" Owen asked.

* * *

**A/N: Please leave your reviews. I would appreciate it.**


	5. Chapter 5 Disaster dinner date

Owen and Cristina looked at Sophie and Julian, waiting for either of them to speak. Sophie and Julian were just staring at each other. Cristina repeated Owen's question.

"Julian, do you know Sophie?" she asked her boyfriend.

He looked at her, "Yes, Sophie and I know each other. About four years ago, we used to date."

"Was it serious?" Owen asked Sophie.

"To me, it was," she said a little bitterly. Clearly, the relationship had not ended well. "So you are with Cristina, now?" she asked Julian.

"Yes," Julian said. "Cristina and I have been together for a year. What about you and Owen?"

"We have been together two and a half years. We have been living together for about two years," Sophie said. She gripped on to Owen's arm, as she said it. It was clear to Owen that Sophie was feeling a little bit insecure. He patted her hand to make her feel better.

"Well, this is a little bit awkward," Julian said. The reason that he and Sophie broke up was that he didn't want to commit. She had wanted to move in, together but at the time, he said he was not ready for that. She said she wanted the relationship to move forward. He said he was happy with the status quo. Their relationship had ended in a screaming match.

Owen felt the need to speak. "Well, a lot of water has passed under the bridge, since then. You have both moved on, so maybe we can get along."

Cristina agreed. "Come on, we're still neighbors and Owen has cooked an amazing roast. And I brought wine," she said, encouragingly.

"Okay," Sophie grudgingly agreed. Cristina decided to help Owen bring out the meal, while Sophie and Julian gave each other some nasty looks across the table.

"It looks like their relationship ended badly," Cristina whispered to Owen.

"Yes, it does seem so. The bad blood seems evident, especially from Sophie's side," Owen said. 'Well, you know what? You and I will have to lighten the mood around here. Deal?"

"Yup, deal," Cristina said, patting him on his back. They brought out the food and laid it out on the table.

"Julian, Owen is a truly awesome cook," she said. "He is going to teach me, one of these days." Julian laughed.

"You are going to have quite a task there trying to teach this one to cook," Julian said, as he put an arm around Cristina and kissed her on her cheek. That gesture irritated both Sophie and Owen, but for very different reasons.

Owen just wanted to rip Julian's arm from around Cristina. He couldn't believe how jealous it made him. Sophie, on the other hand, was bitter. Julian was clearly flaunting his new relationship in front of her. He certainly did not have any trouble committing to his new girlfriend. She had begged and pleaded for them to move in together and here he was, living with someone. What did Cristina have that she didn't that he was so willing to commit to her? Heck, four years ago, when she and Julian were struggling with their relationship woes at the end of their relationship, Cristina was probably still in college.

"She's young, she can still learn. She's only 23," Owen said. "Once she is willing to make an effort, I can teach her to cook." Sophie blinked at Cristina's age. Good grief, Julian was robbing the cradle, she thought. Sophie shook her head. Julian was 35, twelve years older than his young girlfriend. Sophie, at 33, was three years older than Owen, who was 30, but that was nothing compared to the 12-year-age gap between Julian and Cristina.

"See," Cristina said. "He has better faith in me than you."

"Hey, I signed you up for cooking classes with that chef from that downtown restaurant and you quit after two classes," Julian said.

"Well, I didn't like that chef. He made me feel like I was a total idiot," Cristina said. "Owen won't do that. He will be patient and kind, especially when I ask stupid questions. When I asked that chef questions, he used to roll his eyes at me."

"Yes, I will teach you, Cristina. You can start this week, if you want," Owen said, smiling.

"Well, good luck with that," Julian said. He took a bite of the roast. "Oh, my God, Owen, you are indeed a wonderful cook. This roast is divine. If you can teach Cristina to cook like this, I will be forever grateful."

"Thank you," Owen said. He looked across at Sophie, who was glumly picking at her potatoes. "Sophie, are you alright?" he asked. She looked up at him. "As alright as I can be, at the moment," she said. Owen shook his head. At least Julian was making an effort to be civil, he thought, Sophie was still showing signs of hostility.

"So, Julian, Cristina tells me you work in investment banking," Owen said. "Maybe you can give me some financial advice, given that I work on my own."

"Sure, set up an appointment at the office and I will take a look at your portfolio," Julian said, handing Owen his business card. Sophie snickered, softly but everyone still heard it. Owen gave her a glare. She was being so rude, Owen thought. He chose to ignore it.

"Thank you," Owen said. "I will make an appointment as soon as possible."

The rest of the evening was spent with only Owen, Julian and Cristina speaking. Sophie had become increasingly mute, as the evening progressed, except for a few well-timed snorts and snickers. Owen was totally relieved when Julian and Cristina left.

"Cristina, we can start your lessons, tomorrow, if you want," he said. She grinned back at him. "Yes," she said. "Come over, tomorrow, we can start with something simple. Thank you, Owen." As he closed the door, he turned to Sophie in disgust. "You were so rude, tonight. What is your problem? You were the one who wanted to invite them over."

"Well, that was before I knew that her boyfriend was Julian, the idiot. I wasted three years with that guy and he couldn't commit to me. Three years of my life that I can't get back. One year with that girl and he is already living with her, plus he was flaunting his 23-year-old girlfriend in front of me. He is 12 years older than her, practically robbing the cradle," Sophie said. "He is such a jerk."

"Well, he may be a jerk but he was at least civil to both you and me, tonight," Owen said. "You were making snickering noises. And Cristina can't help her age."

"You know when he offered to look at your portfolio, I couldn't help but snicker. He offered to look at my portfolio, when we first met," Sophie said. "That's how we started dating."

"So I guess this means that we are no longer inviting them over for dinner," Owen said.

"Damn right, we're not," Sophie said. Owen sighed. "You and Julian may have your problems but Cristina and I do not. She is my friend and I am going to continue hanging out with her," Owen said. "And you can't tell me anything about it because she has done nothing to you."

"But she's with that jerk," Sophie protested. "Every time I look at her, I will think about him."

"Sorry, Sophie but you would just have to deal with it," Owen said. "I am not giving up Cristina as my friend. And that is my final word on that." Sophie stomped off and went into their bedroom, slamming the door after her. Owen knew he was in the doghouse with Sophie, but strangely enough, he didn't care. There was no way that Sophie was going to stop him from seeing Cristina.

* * *

Back in 6D, Cristina wanted to ask Julian about his relationship with Sophie. He had not mentioned anything, since they got back to their apartment.

'So you and Sophie were together?" she said.

"You clearly want to find out more. So I will answer all of your questions," Julian said. "Yes, we were together. We dated for three years and we broke up, four years ago."

"So what happened?" Cristina asked. "Sophie clearly seems to be still angry about it."

"Well, we ended badly. I guess after three years, Sophie wanted us to make permanent commitments to each other. She wanted to move in, together and then, she wanted to get married. I just wasn't ready for that," he said. "When I told her no, we got into a huge fight and then, we broke up."

"I can see where she's coming from, Julian. Women generally like their relationships to go somewhere, to show some progress, that they are not wasting their time," Cristina said.

"Please don't turn on me, too, Cristina. I can't have my current girlfriend siding with my ex-girlfriend. That would be just too much," Julian said.

"I am not siding with her, Julian. I just understand her," she said.

"You're not mad at me?" he asked.

"No, I can't be mad at you for something that happened way before you met me. Sophie's resentment seems to be obvious, though. I just hope that her bitterness doesn't spill over into the friendship that Owen and I have. He has been the best friend to me, since we moved into this building," she said.

"It's okay, Cristina. I have no problems with you being friends with Owen. He seems like an okay guy. Plus he is going to teach you how to cook. How can I say no to that?' Julian said. He patted the seat next to him. "Come and sit next to me." She went and curled up next to him. He put his arm around her and kissed her on the forehead. Julian thought about Sophie. He knew he had hurt her, badly but four years had already passed since their break-up and it was obvious that she had not gotten over it.

* * *

Owen showed up at Cristina's apartment, bright and early. Today, he was not bearing coffee or muffins. All he carried was an omelet pan. He knocked on the door. He knocked twice. He knew she was there because she did not get up early in the morning. Finally, he heard some movement emanating from inside of the apartment. She opened the door, dressed in pajamas. Her eyes were still closed.

"Cristina, you shouldn't be opening your door with your eyes closed. I could be a robber or something like that," he said. She took a step forward and rested her head on his chest, her eyes still closed. "I know it is only you who would be here at this hour of the morning," she mumbled. He could smell the orange blossom scent of her shampoo. He breathed it in. "What did you bring?" she said, lifting her head up and looking at him.

"This," he said, showing her the omelet pan. She walked back into the apartment and he followed her, closing the door behind him. "I am going to show you how to make an omelet. Boiled or scrambled eggs are too easy. You can do that by yourself. Making an omelet takes a little finesse. You've got eggs?"

"Yes," she said. She watched as he made the omelet. "Pay attention, Cristina, you're going to make the next one by yourself." He supervised her as she made it. On the first try, she made a perfect omelet.

"See, I am not such a dolt. That chef made me feel stupid," she said.

"I won't ever make you feel stupid. Let's have breakfast," he said. He made her coffee and they both sat down to enjoy their omelets.

"So I can make Julian an omelet, now," she said. "This is delicious."

"I showed you the basic omelet recipe. Tomorrow, we are going to add fillings to our recipe. Then, I am going to show you crepes and then pancakes," he said.

"Ooh, great. Something to look forward to," she said. They continued eating their breakfast, until their plates were clean. Owen picked up their dishes and washed them in the sink.

"You are so good," she said. "I told Julian last night that I hoped that the rift between Sophie and him won't affect our friendship. He said he had no objections to us being friends."

Owen sighed. "Well, that is a far cry from Sophie, who said that seeing you would remind her that you were with Julian. I put down my foot and I told her that while she and Julian may have their problems, you and I do not and I am not going to stop hanging out with you. She was mad but she will have to get over it."

"Thanks," Cristina said. She went over to him at the sink and gave him a hug from behind. "You're a great friend." Little did she realize what her hug was doing to him. He had goosebumps all over.

"Yeah, you too," he said. He turned around and hugged her, back. Somehow, it just felt good.

* * *

**A/N: Please leave your comments. Thanks for your input. I do appreciate them.**

**A/N 2: By the way, I have noticed that FanFiction has instituted a new comments area. If you don't sign in, you show up as Guest. If you don't want to sign in, you can still let me know who you are by signing your review with your name, if you wish to do so. Thanks.**


	6. Chapter 6 Rollerblading

The knocking on her door was persistent. She knew it was Owen. She reluctantly got out from under the covers and made her way to the front door.

"Good morning," he said, cheerily, as he made his way past her and into her apartment.

"G'morning," she grunted out. She followed him into the kitchen. "What are we going to learn today?"

"Nothing," he said, as he made them both cups of tea. "I brought cranberry orange scones from the bakery."

"Wow, I can't believe this that I don't have to learn something today. Every day, it has been something new. I have learned to make omelets, crepes, pancakes, buttermilk biscuits, frittatas and quiche."

"I'm going to give you a break, today. We are getting out of this apartment and we are going to Santa Monica bike path. We are going rollerblading, today," he said. "I have two pairs in the truck – one for you and one for me. We could have rented them but I didn't want to put my feet in some nasty rollerblades someone else used. Could you imagine if they had some sort of foot fungus? And I was definitely not going to put you through that, so I bought us rollerblades yesterday afternoon."

"Rollerblades? I haven't done that, since I was a kid," Cristina said, groaning.

"You're only 23, Cristina, being a kid was not so long ago," Owen said.

"Okay, being a kid was not so long ago but I have terrible co-ordination. I used to fall down a lot. That's why I was never a good athlete. I was the last kid they picked to join the teams," Cristina said. "I used to feel bad about it and very ashamed but I couldn't blame them. I was a poor choice."

"Aww, poor little Cristina, who was the last to get chosen. I am sorry about that. I was always the first one chosen," he said.

"Hmmm. I figured as much," she said. "I will be a terrible embarrassment to you, out there. I would be falling all over the place."

"Don't worry, Cristina. I will be there to keep you upright and even if you fall, I will always pick you up. You need to get out of the apartment. I know you stayed in, yesterday and finished two assignments. So today, we should go and enjoy the sun. There is a reason we live in southern California. The weather is awesome," he said.

"Ohhh, okay," she finally agreed. "If I fall down, you are not going to laugh at me."

"Of course not," he said. "Let's just finish our breakfast and we will head down to the bike path."

She answered, "It's just as well that Julian is gone for two days on a business trip. He would laugh if I told him this."

"Well, he is not here to laugh," Owen said. He sometimes felt that Julian was a little condescending to Cristina. Yes, he was 12 years older than her but there were times that Julian treated Cristina as a child and made light of her efforts, he thought. It really was just as well that he wasn't here today.

* * *

She sat on a bench, as Owen tied the laces of her rollerblades. He had already put the helmet and knee pads on her. "I feel stupid, wearing this helmet and knee pads. Everyone will laugh at me," she said.

"Don't worry about that. It is better to be safe than sorry," he said.

She stood up, very unsteadily. He held on to her hand. "Move one foot forward, increasing the pressure on that foot, so there is almost none on the back foot." She did as he instructed. "Now do the same with the other foot. Practice gliding back and forth." She did that a few times. "That's not so bad," she said.

"Okay, now hold my hand, we are going to take off, now and we are going to practice braking," he said. "You must know how to come to a stop. Move one foot forward, then bend your knee slightly. Apply pressure on your heel until you come to a complete stop," Owen said. She did it perfectly the first time. "You are a wonderful student and you haven't fallen as yet."

"That's because you've been holding me up," Cristina said. "Let's get moving and you will see me capsize in a few minutes."

He laughed. "No, you won't. Just keep holding my hand." For about 45 minutes, they glided happily on the bike path, taking in the ocean breezes, the warm sunshine and the water views. "Let me try to see if I can go on my own," she said.

"Are you sure about that?" he said.

"Yes, yes, I am not a baby," she said. She started slowly and then started gliding smoothly on her own. She turned around. "See, Owen, I can do it. Moving at a tortoise pace but I am still doing it on my own." Owen smiled but his smile disappeared as he saw what was coming up behind her. He yelled. "Look out, Cristina, get out of the way." He skated to get to her, but it was too late. The 250-pound bodybuilder on rollerblades knocked Cristina over and she fell hard to the ground, hitting her head against the concrete, while the large man landed on top of her.

"Oh, my God," Owen yelled. "Get off her, you idiot. Why the hell were you coming so fast? You were barreling down that the path." He pushed the large man off of Cristina. "You are crushing her." Cristina was not moving; she seemed to be unconscious.

"I am sorry, buddy, about your girlfriend," the muscleman said. Owen had already tuned him out because he was so worried about Cristina.

"Cristina," he said. He felt her pulse. Thankfully, she still had one. Her face seemed badly bruised and was bleeding. He knew he had to get her to the emergency room. He picked her up and started running to his truck. He gently laid her down on the back seat. As he started the truck, he looked back at her. "It's going to be okay, Cristina, it's going to be okay." She started stirring a bit. That was good, he thought. He made it in record time to the nearest hospital. By the time he got there, Cristina was already showing signs of consciousness.

"Please help me," he said, as he rushed into the emergency room, carrying Cristina's tiny body.

"Come, come," the nurse said, allowing him to take her into the first free bed.

An ER doctor came and started checking Cristina. "What happened?" he asked.

"We were out rollerblading on the bike path and some idiot was coming so fast and he ran over her. He nearly crushed her with his weight," Owen said.

"Let's just get this helmet off of her," the doctor said. He took the helmet off Cristina's head. Her eyes fluttered open. She looked scared.

"O-wen," Cristina said. "What happened? Where am I?"

"We're in the hospital," Owen said. "Some guy knocked you over on the bike path. The hit was so hard, you were knocked out."

"Can you step out into the waiting room and fill out some information?" the nurse said to Owen. He didn't want to leave her.

"We are going to do a neurological examination and we are going to have to take her up to get a scan," the doctor said. "More than likely, she has a mild concussion." He noted Owen's reluctance to leave Cristina. "You are not helping her, right now. Just go fill out the paperwork and we will see about your girlfriend. What's her name and age?"

"Cristina Yang, 23." The doctor wrote it down.

"Follow me," the nurse ordered Owen. He found himself filling out a bunch of forms. He was surprised that he knew so much about Cristina but he was at a loss when it came to her insurance details. The nurse told him that it was okay and that they could fill that in, when Cristina came back down from her CT scan. He sat down with his head in his hands. He felt so guilty because he was the one, who suggested that they go rollerblading. He hadn't expected the day to end like this.

An hour later, he was still there, waiting on word about Cristina. The same doctor, who had dealt with Cristina, came out.

"Mr. Hunt, the nurse told me your name. I forgot to mention my name, earlier. I am Dr. Sharpe. Cristina did well on the neuro exam. The scan looks good. It seems there is nothing more than a mild concussion plus the bruising on her face," he said. "She should be alright. We usually keep our severe concussion patients here for observation, but I think that she will be okay to go home, if someone is there to stay with her. You will have to check her for a period of 24 hours and she may need to be awakened periodically to make sure she can wake up normally. "

"I will stay with her," Owen said, firmly.

"Okay," the doctor said. "If she gets worse, please don't hesitate to bring her back. Here is my phone number, if you need to call. It's a good thing she was wearing a helmet, it could have been a worse injury."

"Yes," Owen said. He was so glad he made her wear the helmet, even though she did not want to wear it.

"Okay, I am discharging her in your care," the doctor said. An orderly came out and brought her out. "Hey, you don't look so bad," he said. She had a huge bruise on the left side of her face. That was where her face had hit the ground.

"I haven't seen myself," she said. "But I know I look terrible."

"No, you don't. You're beautiful," he said.

"You're only saying that because you were the one, who suggested we go rollerblading today and you're feeling guilty," she said.

"Well, that too, but it is true. You are beautiful," he said, touching her bruised face. He was so relieved that she was okay. "Hey, just one thing before we leave, your insurance information. I need it for your paperwork." She gave it to him and she watched as he gave the nurse her information. He turned around and smiled back at her. It was such a sweet, caring smile, she thought. He really was a good guy.

They headed off home to their apartment building. He settled her down on her bed. "I am going to stay here for the rest of the evening and the night. The doctor said I should observe you and to wake you up, periodically to make sure that you are waking up, normally."

"Okay," she said. "I am going to take a nap, now." He covered her up, switched off the lights and went into the living room. He went back to his apartment and got his pillow and a blanket and brought it across. He gave Sophie a call and told her what had happened with Cristina.

"Since Julian is not here, I have to stay with her to make sure she is okay," Owen said. "I grabbed my pillow and a blanket. I am going to spend the night on the couch in her apartment."

"Okay, that's fine. Julian would naturally be out of town, when she has hurt herself," Sophie said. "He was never reliable."

"Sophie, that's not fair to Julian. He wouldn't have known that something like this was going to happen," Owen said. He found it strange that he was actually defending Julian, but he was doing so because he knew Julian was blameless in the whole episode. Sophie's bitterness towards Julian was coloring all of her remarks about him.

"Hmmm," Sophie said.

"I am going to make dinner and leave it on the stove for you," Owen said. "When you come home, if you need anything, you can check me at Cristina's apartment."

"Okay," Sophie said. "I will probably be late. Working on a case, here. Chances are you will be asleep by the time I get back."

"Okay," Owen said. For the rest of the evening, Owen woke up Cristina from her sleep, periodically. She knew he had to wake her up but she was very grouchy about it. It was about 10 o' clock, when he went to check on her. He gently shook her awake. She didn't get up.

"Cristina," he said. He was getting very worried. "Cristina, baby." He shook her again. He was in total panic mode. Where was the doctor's number? He knew he left it on the bedside table. He was still searching for it, when he heard a laugh. He turned around to see her grinning.

"Are you trying to scare me to death?" he said. "Don't do that. I was going out of my mind, here."

"Just wanted some entertainment," she said. "You just provided it."

"I am mad at you," Owen said. "That was not nice."

"I am sorry," she said. "But you keep waking me up, when I am in the middle of a good dream."

"I am just making sure you are okay," he said.

"Talk to me for a bit," she said. "I am tired of sleeping."

"Okay," he said. He lay on the other side of the bed, above the covers, and they started chatting about everything. Two hours went by in a flash. He could see she was nodding off. He was feeling tired, too. The events of the day had exhausted him. He got up to go to the living room for the rest of the night.

As he was leaving, he heard her say, "Stay with me."

* * *

**A/N Please leave your comments. Thanks for your input. I really appreciate reading your reviews.**


	7. Chapter 7 Discord

"Wh..what did you say?" Owen asked, turning around.

"Stay with me till I fall asleep," she said. She pulled back the covers and patted the bed, indicating that she wanted him to get under the covers, too. He thought twice about it but he still found himself next to her, under the covers. Unfortunately, as he waited for her to fall asleep, he too nodded off to dreamland.

His body clock awoke him early the next morning. The light was started to stream in through the windows. It was his usual time to go running. The first thing that greeted him was the sight of a picture of Julian on the bedside table. He was horrified that he had spent the entire night, sleeping in Cristina's bed. Okay, maybe just halfway-horrified, if he thought about it truthfully, because it secretly thrilled him that he had spent the night in the same bed with his crush.

He knew he had to get out of the bed, before Cristina woke up but she was making it particularly difficult, since she was most certainly spooning him. She had one arm slung over his chest, while she had thrown one slim leg over his legs. He gingerly removed her arm and her leg from around him. She rolled back and turned away to face the other direction. He sneaked out of the room, went to the kitchen and decided to make breakfast for her. He made three Eggs Benedict, one for himself, one for Cristina and the other one for Sophie. He went back to Cristina's room and gently shook her awake.

She opened her eyes and gave him a warm smile. "Hey, Cristina, I made breakfast for you – Eggs Benedict and coffee. It's on the table. Just going back to my apartment. I will come and check back on you, in a little bit. I need to freshen up." She nodded, sleepily, as she got out of her bed and headed to the bathroom.

Owen let himself out and carried across the breakfast he had prepared for himself and Sophie. He opened the door to find Sophie in the kitchen, clutching a cereal box.

"Ah, there you are, Owen, what goodies are you carrying?" she said.

"Eggs Benedict," he said, placing them on the table. "Could you make us some coffee, while I go brush my teeth and wash my face?"

"Certainly," Sophie said. "Since you brought me breakfast, I am more than happy to oblige. I thought it was going to be a cereal and milk morning." Owen went into the bathroom, brushed his teeth and took a quick shower. He changed from his nightime pjs into jeans and a t-shirt. He looked at himself in the mirror. He felt a little guilty facing Sophie but he hadn't done anything wrong. He had just fallen asleep in the same bed with Cristina. That was all. He went back out to the main living area.

"You've outdone yourself, Owen," Sophie said. "Eggs Benedict is perfect."

"Thank you," Owen said, as he sat down. He gratefully took a sip of coffee. The black liquid burned his mouth a bit but the heat felt good, going down.

"So how is Cristina?" Sophie asked.

"I think that she is going to be okay," Owen said. "She woke up, normally, when I shook her awake. That's a good thing. I just woke her up and left some breakfast for her."

"So how is your back?" Sophie asked.

"Sorry, my back, what are you talking about?" Owen said, a little puzzled.

"From sleeping on the couch," she said. "How is your back?"

"Oh," Owen said, catching himself. "It wasn't too bad." He concentrated on his breakfast, stabbing at the poached eggs with his fork. "That reminds me I have to go and pick up my pillow and blanket from the couch."

"So what are your plans for the day?" Sophie asked. "You didn't go running, this morning."

"No," he said. "I thought under the circumstances, it might be best just to make breakfast and not go out, today. I can always go running, tomorrow. I think I just have to observe Cristina for a couple more hours. I got an email about a project, so I will work on that, too."

They both silently finished up their breakfast. Sophie got up, gave Owen a quick kiss on the lips and then, she headed out to work. Owen felt guilty about lying to Sophie about where he had slept during the night. He sighed, loudly. The realization was becoming even clearer to him. He was having real feelings for his neighbor, who lived across the hall. He wondered if it would be better to curtail the time he spent with Cristina because they were both in committed relationships. He groaned at the idea of not being able to see Cristina as much. Just having her in his life made his day so much brighter and better. It wasn't her fault that he was having feelings for her.

He took out his computer and started working on his assignment. He became so engrossed in it that he had forgotten that he was going to check back on Cristina. Several hours passed. There was a small knock on the door. He went and opened it. It was Cristina, with his pillow and blanket. She handed them to him.

"Hey, I thought you were coming back or is my face so hideous now with this bruise that you can't bear to see me?" she said, as she lightly touched her bruised cheek. It was definitely still swollen and was a fine shade of purple.

"Of course not," he said. "I got caught up in this project I was doing. Sorry about that. I had to come back because I was going to return these plates that I had brought across here for our breakfast. By the way, how was the Eggs Benedict?"

"Muy delicioso. That's why I am over here. It is lunchtime. I was wondering whether we could make something, together," she said.

"Sure," he said. He looked at his watch. "It really is about that time. Let's go in the kitchen." He stared at his refrigerator. "What about we make some grilled cheese sandwiches with some tomato soup? I also have some raspberry lemonade that we can have with it."

She agreed. Anything Owen made tasted fabulous. She said she was going to help him but in reality, he did the bulk of the work. She liked watching his large, strong hands work. Then, her mind started going somewhere it shouldn't. She wondered how those strong hands would feel against her body. She had to physically shake that image out of her mind.

"What's the matter?" he said, when he saw her shaking herself. "Are you okay? You're not in pain?" He was concerned.

"Um, I am alright. I just thought of something that I shouldn't be thinking about," she admitted.

"What was it?" he asked, curiously.

"Uh," she said. She didn't know what to say as yet. "It's nothing important." She blushed, so Owen didn't pursue it any further. He wondered if it had anything to do with him.

"Ah, well, here we go," he said, as he placed the soup and sandwich in front of her. He poured her out a tall, cool glass of raspberry lemonade.

"Thank you, you treat me so well. Why do you do that?" she said.

He reached and touched her bruised cheek. "You're my friend, Cristina. Friends should always be good to each other." She reached up and held his hand that was on her cheek. "Yes, I agree," she said. "Well, let's eat." They had a pleasant lunch, after which Cristina left him to continue his work.

* * *

It was about 6 p.m. when there was a pounding on his door. The person was not knocking but actually pounding. He opened the door to reveal Julian and Cristina.

"How could you let this happen to her?" Julian shouted, pointing at Cristina's face. "Look at her face."

"It's not his fault," Cristina protested. "I told you that before, Julian."

"Well, if he hadn't taken you rollerblading, then this would not have happened. I go away on a two day business trip, leaving behind a girlfriend with a perfect face and coming back to this," Julian said.

"I am sorry, Julian. It was an accident. Some guy came barreling down the bike path and he knocked her over," Owen said. "I tried to stop it but I got there, too late."

"Oh, my God, Owen," Julian said. "If you don't mind, I think you should stop taking my girlfriend out with you. If you can't take care of her, then she shouldn't go out with you."

"What?" Cristina said. "He took care of me to make sure I was alright, Julian. At the hospital and back at the apartment. He has been so good to me."

Julian shook his head. "I am sorry, Cristina but you cannot see Owen anymore. I can't have any more accidents happening to you."

"I am not a child," Cristina screamed. "I can see whom I very well want to see. He is my friend."

It looked like Julian and Cristina were going to start a heated argument. Julian was a man, who hated public scenes.

"Excuse me, Owen, but Cristina and I will be taking this up in our apartment." Owen quietly closed the door, as he heard a door slam, soon afterwards. Clearly, that was Cristina slamming her own apartment door. Gosh, this was turning out to be a mess, he thought. Later, he could hear her crying. His heart ached.

* * *

The next day, after his jog and his shower, he knocked on her door. He had peaches and cream muffins for her. She opened the door. She looked like she had not slept well as her eyes were a little red, probably a combination of crying and a lack of sleep. Her face was a lot less swollen from the injury and the purplish skin had toned down quite a bit.

"Hey, am I allowed to see you?" he asked.

"Of course, you are allowed to see me," she said. "Come in. I see whomever I want." Owen went inside of the apartment. It was clear that someone had slept on the couch, after their fight last night.

"I brought peaches and cream muffins," he said.

"Great, I already made our coffee. I was just waiting for you," she said, as she placed a hot cup of coffee in front of him. They both sat down and happily munched at their muffins.

"Is me seeing you going to cause any trouble between you and Julian?" Owen asked. "I could stop coming over."

"No, no, no," she said. "That would mean that Julian would win. He treats me like a child and expects me to do what he says. I am not a kid; I am supposed to be an equal partner in this relationship." Owen was gratified that Cristina was finally realizing how much Julian treated her like a child, making decisions for her.

"Alright," Owen said. "So it's okay between me and you."

"Yes," she said. "It's always okay between me and you. Did you finish your project?"

"Yes, I stayed up late last night to finish it," he said. He didn't tell her that he stayed up to make sure she was alright, too. He had listened until her crying had subsided before he went to bed.

"So we can go out, today?" she asked, hopefully.

"Yes, if you are feeling up to it," he said.

"It's up to you whether you want people to see me with you with my face looking like this," she said.

"That's okay," he said. "It will heal soon. But definitely no rollerblading, today. "

"Can we go to Disneyland?" she asked. "In Anaheim. I have always wanted to go but Julian says it is too childish and he won't be seen on any of those rides."

"Yeah, if you want. It will only take 50 minutes to get there," Owen said. "I love Disneyland and Universal, too. We can stay out late, too, if you wish. Sophie is overnighting in San Francisco, so I don't have to come home early."

"Great, we can get ready and drive down, as soon as we finish breakfast," she said. "I am so excited."

They headed off to Disneyland and spent the whole day there. By the time, they came back, it was already 9 p.m. Julian was home, waiting and very upset. As Cristina went into her apartment, Owen knew it was going to be the start of another major argument between her and Julian.

At 10 p.m., there was a tiny knock on the door. He opened the door and there stood a crying Cristina. "Can I stay here tonight?" she tearfully asked.

* * *

**A/N: Please leave your comments. Thanks for your reviews.**

**A/N 2 I see FanFiction has again allowed you to put in your name at the top of review. That is so much better. So don't forget to leave your reviews.**


	8. Chapter 8 A night on the couch

She came to him and rested her head against his chest, crying. He wrapped an arm around her as he closed the door with his other hand. He guided her to the sofa, where she continued to cry against him. He allowed her to let it all out before he would even attempt to venture to ask her anything.

"Can I stay here, tonight?" she asked again, the tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Of course, you can. You don't even have to ask," he said. "So I take it that Julian was not too pleased about us going to Disneyland." She nodded.

"He was very mad. He said that he told me that I shouldn't go out with you, anymore and that I defied him," she said. "But he is wrong. He can't make decisions for me, without asking if I agree to them. I am not a child. So we had a big fight and I walked out of there. I didn't know where else to go but here."

"But by coming here, aren't you going to make him more upset?" Owen asked. "It seems that I am the reason for the argument."

She looked up, defiantly. "I don't care if he gets angrier. He can't make me stop being your friend."

"Okay," Owen said. "I guess we better see about your sleeping arrangements. I can bring out a pillow and a blanket for the couch. Or do you want to take the bed and I will take the couch."

"No, no," Cristina said. "I can't put you out of your bed. Besides, you slept on my couch, the other night. So no, I will sleep on the couch." Owen felt guilty when she said that because he knew he hadn't spent the night on the couch. He had spent the night in her comfortable bed, next to her, and she had unknowingly wrapped her leg and arm around him.

"Alright, if that is what you want," he said. He went to the linen closet and got a blanket and gave her one of his pillows.

"Hey, the pillow smells just like you," she said.

"Yes, it's mine," he said. "I hope you don't mind that it smells like me."

"Of course not, you smell great," she said. "It's kind of a warm, comforting smell. It makes me feel loved." She gave him one of her sunshiny smiles that melted his heart. He knew if she asked him for anything in that moment, he would give it to her.

"Well, okay, have a good night," he said. He headed to his bedroom.

"Good night, Owen," Cristina said. She took off the lamp and settled down on the couch. She was so tired from the day at Disneyland plus the fight that she fell asleep, soon after. Owen, too, fell asleep but not before coming out to the living room to check on her. She looked peaceful but he knew the inner turmoil she was having. He touched her cheek, before he went back to his bedroom.

* * *

Sophie had caught an earlier flight from San Francisco to LA and had driven back from the airport. It was early. She wondered if Owen had gone out on his run as yet. She opened the door and was shocked to find the couch occupied. She knew immediately who it was. There was no mistaking the ebony curls, which partially covered her face, and the slight body of the person who lay there. She wondered why Cristina was sleeping on their couch.

She tiptoed to the bedroom and found Owen, still asleep. She shook him awake.

"Sophie," he said, rubbing his eyes. "You're back early."

"Yeah, I caught an earlier flight. I wanted to get into the office, as soon as possible," she said. "What is Cristina doing on our couch?"

"Oh, she and Julian had a fight and she didn't want to stay in their apartment with him," Owen said.

"Of course, Julian would be his usual idiotic self," Sophie said with some venom in her voice. "Why are they fighting?"

"Me. I am the cause," Owen said. "Well, it seems that Julian blames me for the rollerblading accident and didn't want me taken her out, again. Then, he banned her from seeing me. She got upset by that because she said he can't tell her not to see her friends. I have to say Julian does treat her like a child. I recognize she is 12 years younger than him but he makes decisions for her."

"Yup, that sounds like Julian. He used to do that to me, too. But I think it is probably worse for her, since she is so much younger than he is," Sophie said, shaking her head.

"Well, that wasn't the end of it. So I visited her yesterday morning. She told me that Julian could not tell her what to do and we went out, again, yesterday," Owen said. He didn't want to tell Sophie that he and Cristina had spent the day, gallivanting in Disneyland. "When we came back, Julian was waiting and extremely upset. They had another argument and she showed up at our door around 10, last night."

"So, how long is she going to stay here?" Sophie asked. "She can't stay on our couch, forever."

"Yeah, I am going to talk to her, about that. I am not sure if it is over between her and Julian, or is it that they just had a fight," Owen said. "I think I am just going to get up and make some breakfast." He got up from the bed and headed to the bathroom to brush his teeth. He felt awkward being with Sophie, with Cristina on the couch. He knew he had not done anything wrong, but his burgeoning feelings for Cristina were evident.

He went out to the kitchen and started making savory crepes with a creamy mushroom and ham filling. He made enough for the three of them, as well as three cups of coffee. He placed them on their table. He went and sat next to Cristina on the couch. He pushed the hair off her face and gently, shook her awake.

"Cristina," he said, softly. She stretched. She gave him a loving smile. At least, Owen thought it was a loving smile. He had to restrain himself because he had this overwhelming desire to kiss her soft lips.

"Good morning," she said, stretching like a cat. He found that she looked so adorable, doing that.

"I made breakfast. It's on the table, already," he said, as he got up from the couch.

"Okay, but I first have to go to the bathroom," she said, as she disappeared into the bathroom. She soon emerged, looking a lot less sleepy. She took a seat at the table and took a sip of the hot coffee. It felt so good, going down her throat. She started on the crepe. It no longer surprised her on how well Owen cooked. She just allowed herself to enjoy it. She noted the third setting at the table.

"Oh, did Sophie come back?" she asked.

"Yes, she is in the bedroom, probably getting ready for work," he said. "She should be out in a bit."

"She must have been really shocked to see me on the couch," Cristina said with a wry smile.

"Well, yes, I explained to her everything that happened between you and Julian. As you can imagine, she only thinks the worst of Julian," Owen said.

He noted the flicker of emotion that crossed Cristina's face, when he said Julian's name.

She simply said, "Yes."

"So what are you going to do, now?" Owen asked. "Are you going to go back and make up with him?" He asked the question, even though he felt she should not go back to Julian.

"I don't know," Cristina said. "We have been together for a little more than a year. I shouldn't just throw it all away just because of one argument, right? Well, maybe, two arguments." She looked at Owen for some reassurance that should be the path that she should take.

"Um, if you think that is the best thing for you," he said, even though it was killing him to say it. It was clear to him that Cristina was going to try, again, with Julian.

"You don't seem too enthusiastic about that," Cristina said, noting the disapproving tone in his voice. "Say what you really feel, not what I want to hear."

"Do you really want to hear it?" he asked. "You might not like it."

"Say it, Owen, I want to hear what you think," she said. "Go ahead."

"I think Julian is showing signs of being controlling," Owen said. "You know that he keeps making decisions for you and he treats you like you don't have a say in the relationship. You are not a child; you are supposed to be his partner in the relationship. And he doesn't do anything to encourage when you're trying something new. He just belittles your efforts." There, he said it. He looked at her face to see whether she was angry at him for saying it. She just looked sad. She didn't say anything for a while.

"Thank you for sharing what you really feel," she said. She sighed. She really wasn't sure what she was going to do. She took another bite of her crepes. Just then, Sophie came out of the bedroom. She was feeling recovered from all of her traveling. She had taken a shower and had changed into a business suit.

"Hello, Cristina," Sophie said, as she joined them at the table. "Ah, crepes, I love crepes. You are such a good cook, Owen."

"Hi, Sophie," Cristina responded. She felt a little embarrassed that she was there at their apartment, especially since Sophie knew why she was there. "I am sorry to intrude on you and Owen."

"Nonsense," Sophie said. "Owen was helping a friend in need." Everyone ate in silence. It was like if no one knew exactly what to say.

After they finished breakfast, Sophie was on her way to work and Owen and Cristina were left to wash up dishes. Owen washed while Cristina dried the dishes and put them away. They had just finished, when there was a knock at the door.

Owen suspected it would be Julian. He opened the door. His suspicions were right. Julian looked like he was ready to repent for all of his wrongdoings.

"Owen, good morning, is Cristina here?" Julian asked.

"Yes," Owen said, as he let Julian in.

"Hello, Cristina," Julian said, as he saw his girlfriend. He noticed the blanket and the pillow on the couch. She had obviously slept there.

"Julian," she said, acknowledging his presence.

"I guess I should leave you two alone," Owen said, as he started making a beeline to his bedroom.

"No," Cristina said. "Stay, Owen. Please." Owen hesitated before he answered. "Are you sure?" She nodded, emphatically. Owen took a seat at the dining table. He felt uncomfortable, witnessing this. Julian felt uncomfortable, having to beg his girlfriend to come back in front of another man.

"Cristina," Julian said. "I want you to come home."

"Why should I come home? You don't consider what I want. You never want to do what I want to do. We always have to do whatever you want. You don't consider my feelings. You just make decisions for the two of us, without even consider what I want. I am supposed to be your partner and you have to take in consideration of what I want. You can't just say that I can't see my friend, anymore. He is my friend and the best friend I have."

"I am sorry about that, Cristina. You're right. I cannot dictate who can be your friends. If you want to continue seeing Owen, that is fine," Julian said, sheepishly.

"But that's not the only thing. You never encourage me, when I try something. You always have something insulting to say," she said.

"I am sorry about that, too, Cristina. Please, I will do better," Julian said. "I will try and support your efforts. Just come home."

"I am not sure that is what I want to do," Cristina said, folding her arms.

"Well, maybe this will change your mind," Julian said. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a blue velvet box.

"I had bought this on my last business trip and I was going to give it to you when I came back," Julian said. "But then I came home and found your face all bruised up and I got so mad about it." He dropped to one knee and opened the box to reveal a beautiful solitaire diamond ring, which sparkled in the sunlight that was streaming through the apartment.

"Cristina," Julian said. "Will you marry me?" Cristina's mouth dropped open in total shock.

Owen felt like he was dying on the inside.

* * *

**A/N Please leave your comments. Thank you for your reviews.**


	9. Chapter 9 Time to act

"It is very beautiful, Julian," Cristina said, staring at the dazzling ring in the box.

"Put it on," Julian urged. When Cristina slipped the ring on her finger and admired it, Owen felt his heart was breaking. But then, she slipped off the ring, placed it back in the box and closed it. Julian was shocked at her action. She looked up at him, "I don't think I am ready to do this." Owen breathed a sigh of relief. His heart had flip-flopped a couple of times in those few minutes.

"Why?" Julian asked, confused and hurt.

"Because we just had a major fight and getting married is not going to solve our problems. It is just going to make it worse," Cristina said. Owen found that was incredibly mature for a 23-year-old. He knew that some women would be dazzled by the prospect of a big, beautiful engagement ring but not Cristina. She had her head on straight, he thought.

"I am sorry, Cristina," Julian said. "I am going to try and do better. What more can I say?"

"Julian, what if we try to see if we work," Cristina said. "I am going to give you another chance to see whether you will do the things that you say you are going to do and we will take it from there. I don't like how you treat me, sometimes."

Julian looked very repentant. "Well, will you still come home?" he asked, softly.

"Yes, I told you that we were going to try, so I am going to come home, now," she said. She looked across at Owen. She knew how he felt about how Julian treated her. She got up and gave him a hug. "It's going to be okay, Owen. Thanks for everything. You are the best friend a girl could ever have."

"Are you sure about this, Cristina?" he asked.

"Yes, I need to give him the chance to try," she said. "We've been together for more than a year. If things don't change, I will walk."

"Okay," he said. "I am here if you need me."

"I know," she said, smiling up at him. "Will talk to you, later." She followed Julian out of the front door and she closed the door behind her.

Owen had mixed emotions about what he had just witnessed. He was happy that Cristina did not accept Julian's proposal. But he was also gutted that she had decided to go back to Julian to try again. It still meant that Julian was still very much part of Cristina's life. He sighed. He turned on his computer and went to work. He didn't see Cristina for the rest of the day but he thought about her. He wanted to call her but he decided that if she needed him, she would call.

He finished his work for the day and got busy with preparing dinner. He waited for Sophie, who usually came in around 7 p.m. He was reading a book on the sofa, when he heard her keys in the door.

"Hey, Owen," she said, dropping her bag on the couch.

"Hey, Sophie. How was your day?" he asked. He got up to go to the kitchen to get Sophie her dinner. She kicked off her shoes and sat down at the table.

"It was fine. Where is our little visitor?" Sophie asked, noting that Cristina was missing from their apartment.

"She went back home," Owen said, quietly.

"She did? I am surprised," Sophie said. "I was sure she was going to break up with him. I would have. Did he come here, begging for forgiveness?"

Owen came out of the kitchen and placed the plate and a glass of orange juice in front of Sophie.

"Yes, Julian came by this morning, right after we had breakfast. He asked her to come home," Owen said. "But that wasn't all."

"What else happened?" Sophie asked. She didn't want to admit it but she was curious about anything to do with Julian.

"He asked her to marry him," Owen said. It pained him to say it, as much as it pained Sophie to hear it. Sophie coughed and choked on her food. She drank out the entire glass of orange juice. She hit against her chest.

"What did you say?" she spluttered out.

"Julian asked Cristina to marry him," Owen said, hating to say it again.

"I hope she said no to that. She did say no to that," Sophie said. In their relationship, not once did Julian ever even bring up the subject of marriage and here he was, proposing to someone else. He was ready to give this girl the world. She could not believe the years she had wasted with Julian. She was angry, but yet she could not help but feel terribly hurt.

Owen replied, "She said that she was not ready for that, given the problems they were having. She gave him another chance to see if they could work out their problems and she went home with him."

Neither of them spoke after that. Owen went back to reading his book while Sophie quietly finished her dinner. Both were deep in thought.

* * *

The next day, after his morning run and shower, he knocked on Cristina's door. He heard her familiar shuffle on the inside. Then he heard, "Ow! Bloody chair!" She had obviously bumped into a chair. He knew it was probably because she was walking with her eyes closed.

She opened the door, her eyes were still closed. He shook his head, as he turned her around and put her to sit at her dining table. She opened her eyes and smiled at him.

"What did you bring?" she asked.

"I brought you two things – one savory and the other sweet. I brought a spinach feta wrap and a raspberry scone for you," he said. "What do you want first?"

"The savory first, and then, I will have the sweet," she said. He handed her the wrap. She bit into it. "Glorious," she said. He got up and went to the kitchen to make two cups of tea. When he returned, he asked, "So how are things going? I didn't see you for the rest of yesterday."

"Okay, I guess. He has been extremely considerate of my feelings and asks my opinion, first. I am going to wait and see if that is changed behavior for him," Cristina said. "We'll see if it lasts."

"Oh, okay," Owen said. "I just hope that this is what you really want."

"I have to try, Owen. I know how you feel about this. I have to give him the benefit of the doubt, for the moment," Cristina said. "I would like to say that even if this doesn't work out, I did try."

"Okay," he said. "I am not going to ask you about it anymore. But you should know that I am always here for you."

"I know," she said. She reached across the table and squeezed his hand.

* * *

For the next few weeks, things went back to normal for Owen and Cristina. Julian no longer objected to their friendship and they spent most of their days, together, both in and out of the apartments. They went grocery shopping, enjoyed movies together, tried out new restaurants and drove around the city, discovering new places.

Owen knew that the best part of his days were the times he spent with Cristina. He wondered if it was the same for her. She just made his day that much better. Just seeing her, every day, made his heart sing. But he knew that this was not fair to Sophie. He knew he had fallen in love with another woman. He didn't want to hurt Sophie but he knew he was living a lie being in this relationship with her. It was especially hard, since he knew that Sophie had been greatly hurt in her relationship with Julian.

It was all such a mess, he thought. But he felt he couldn't live like this, anymore. The time was coming when he needed to tell Sophie how he felt.

"Hey, what are you thinking?" Cristina asked. Today, he was teaching her to make clam chowder soup.

"I was just thinking how happy I am, whenever we spend time together," he said. In his way, he was telling her how he felt without actually saying the words that he loved her. "It is the best part of the day."

"Awww, that is so sweet of you to say," she said. She stopped cubing the potatoes and went to give him a hug. He hugged her back and kissed her at the top of her head. He knew that she didn't realize that he was saying that he loved her. It was just as well, he thought. He needed to speak to Sophie about it. He needed to be a free man before he could let Cristina know that this was the way he felt. He wanted to be with Cristina so much. She was his first thought, when he woke up in the morning and his last thought, when he went to bed at night. He no longer touched Sophie in the manner that a boyfriend should. He made up his mind; he was going to tell Sophie tonight.

Later that night, he waited up for Sophie. It seemed that she was coming in later than usual. She had called earlier to say that she was going out with her friends for a few drinks at this bar that was close to her workplace. That certainly stymied his plans of telling her tonight. He figured he would have to wait until the next morning to discuss it.

Sophie had not yet come home, when he finally turned in at 10 p.m. He figured she must be drinking her sorrows, away. Since the day he had told her that Julian had proposed to Cristina, it had affected both Owen and Sophie in different ways.

For Owen, it made him realize that he needed to make a move, soon, or there was a possibility that he would lose his chance to be with her. It was a chance he so desperately wanted to have.

For Sophie, it was a time of anger and regret. She was angry that Julian had never wanted to take that step with her. She also regretted how much time and energy she had wasted on being with Julian, when it was a relationship that was going nowhere. She thought about Owen – she knew that he was a much better man than Julian, but lately, she had found him to be a little distant. They were becoming more like roommates rather than lovers. She couldn't remember the last time that she and Owen had made love. These were her thoughts as she drove home, that night. She needed to have a talk with Owen. Their relationship seemed a little stagnant, at the moment. Maybe because it was her mind was a little pre-occupied with thoughts that she came out, prematurely, from the side street and the SUV hit her car, pushing it towards the lamp-post The last thought she had before she went unconscious was that she needed to speak to Owen.

* * *

Owen was fast asleep, when he got the call. The sharp ringing of the phone was like an assault to the ears. He groggily picked up the phone and through bleary eyes, he peered at the clock on the bedside table. It was 3.17 a.m.

"Hello," he said, in a gruff tone.

"Good day, sir, is this the home of Sophie Malloy?" the person said on the other line.

"Yes, it is," Owen said. He looked across to the other side of the bed to realize that Sophie was not next to him. He immediately got awake. "Did something happen to Sophie?"

"Yes, sir, may I have your name?" the person said. "And your relationship to Miss Malloy?"

"Owen Hunt," Owen said. "I am her…boyfriend."

"I am Officer Shawn Hastings. I am sorry to say that Sophie has been in a car accident," Hastings said.

"What!" Owen said. He could not believe what he was hearing. So many different thoughts were racing through his brain.

"Yes, sir. Miss Malloy is at St. Theresa's," Hastings said. "She is in critical condition, so I would suggest you get here, as soon as possible."

Owen flew out of his bed, dragged off his pj's and pulled on a jeans and a t-shirt from his closet. He debated whether to call Cristina to let her know what was happening. He decided to call her. A sleepy Julian answered the phone.

"Um, Julian, can I speak to Cristina? This is urgent," Owen said. He could hear Julian groan, as he handed the phone to Cristina. "It's Owen."

"Hello," she said. "What's wrong? The only reason you would be calling me at this hour is that something bad has happened."

"Sophie has been in an accident," he said, his voice cracking.

"Oh, my God," she said. "Is she alright?"

"I don't know. They say she is in critical condition at St Theresa's," Owen said. "I am going down there now."

"Okay, do you want me to come with you?" she asked.

"Please," he said. He needed some support, if things were really bad with Sophie.

"Okay, just give me five minutes," she said. He hung up the phone as he didn't quite know how to feel. He felt guilty that he had planned to break up with Sophie that very night. He felt sad that this had happened to Sophie. He still cared about her, even if he didn't love her that way. He was still deep in his thoughts when he heard the knock on the door.

As he opened the door, Cristina rushed into his arms and gave him a tight hug.

"It's going to be okay, Owen," she said. "Let's go." She offered him her hand to hold, as they left the apartment, together.

* * *

**A/N: Please leave your comments and reviews. It is great when you let me know your thoughts.**


	10. Chapter 10 What happened to Sophie

Owen and Cristina rushed to the hospital in his truck. When they got there, they ran to the emergency room, where they found out that Sophie had been taken to surgery. It would be a while before the surgeons were through with her and they were told to take a seat in the lobby. Owen sat nervously, worried about Sophie. He was also consumed by guilt because he had been planning to break up with her. Now, that seemed like such a cruel thing to do, given that Sophie was facing such terrible injuries. He hoped that she would survive this.

Cristina saw the anxious look on Owen's face and she reached out and took his hand into hers. "She's going to be okay, Owen. She just has to be." He looked at the face of the woman he loved. She had so much concern for him. He loved her but now, he didn't know whether he would be able to ever tell her this. Life was just so messed up, now.

"Yeah," he said, as he hugged her. The hours passed and they both fell asleep. When the surgeon came out to speak to them, he found them still asleep, with the woman sleeping against the man's chest while his arm was around her. The surgeon gently shook Owen. Owen opened his eyes and realized where he was. He groggily looked at the doctor in front of him.

"Hello," he said in a raspy voice. He realized Cristina was still asleep against him but he didn't wake her up.

"Hello, I am Dr Patel," the doctor said. "You're Mr. Hunt?" The doctor had been informed that Mr. Hunt was Ms. Malloy's boyfriend, so he had found it strange to see Owen and Cristina's intimate sleeping position.

"Yes," Owen said. "How is Sophie?"

"Well, she made it through. Broken bones, internal injuries, as expected from an accident like this. It is going to be a long recovery," Dr. Patel said. "However, I do have a bit of bad news." That woke up Owen, immediately.

"What bad news?" he asked.

"Well, Sophie's spinal cord was injured, very badly. She is probably paralyzed from the waist down," Dr. Patel said. Owen felt so sorry for Sophie.

"Does that mean she will never walk again?" Owen asked.

"I think with intense physical therapy, it may be possible that she could walk, again," Dr. Patel said. "But it is going to take a lot of work."

"Thank you, doctor," Owen said. "When can I see her?"

"Well, she is in recovery right now. It may be a while, yet before she wakes up. Maybe you and the young lady can get some breakfast and then, Sophie might be up," the doctor said.

"Thank you, doctor, for everything," Owen said, shaking the man's hand.

"It's okay. I am just doing my job," the doctor said, as he walked away. "I am just happy that she made it."

Owen shook Cristina awake. "Wake up, Cristina," he said, softly. She opened her eyes. "Where am I?" she asked.

"We're at the hospital. Remember, Sophie got into an accident," he said. She lifted her head from his chest, then she stretched. "Did we get any word?" she asked.

"Yes, the doctor just came out and said that she made it through the surgery," he said.

"Oh, that is so good, Owen. I am happy for you and her," Cristina said with a huge smile.

"Um, well that's the good news. There is some bad news, too. Sophie is probably paralyzed since she has a spinal injury," Owen said.

"But she'll be able to walk again, with therapy, right?" Cristina said, hopefully.

"I don't know. Maybe. She will have to undergo intense physical therapy," he said. He was happy that Sophie made it but he knew the months of recovery and physical therapy would mean he would have to put his life on hold to take care of her. He wouldn't be able to tell Sophie that he wanted to break up with her and he wouldn't be able to tell Cristina how much he loved her. He really understood the meaning of being caught between a rock and a hard place.

"Let's get some breakfast," he told her.

"Okay," she said. She pulled out two new toothbrushes and a tube of toothpaste from her handbag and handed him one. "I think we need to brush our teeth first."

"Good thinking, do you always carry that in your handbag?" he asked, as she put some toothpaste on his toothbrush.

"Always be prepared," she said. "You never know if you are going to be stranded somewhere. Clean teeth and fresh breath always make it seem a little bit better."

"I learn new things about you every day," he said, with a laugh. They went to their separate restrooms and after having washed their faces and brushed their teeth, they left the hospital and headed to the Starbucks across the street.

The coffee felt good, hot and sweet, as it hit their throats. They really needed that. They were both quiet, thinking of Sophie and her long, hard road to recovery. It was just then that Cristina remembered that she had to call Julian. She took out her phone and dialed her boyfriend's number.

"Hey, it's me. Have you gone to work as yet?" she asked. Owen listened to her side of conversation, filling in the blanks on what Julian probably said.

"Yeah, it is bad, she is paralyzed. The doctor said that maybe she could walk again, with therapy," Cristina said. "Well, I am going to stay with Owen and we're going to see Sophie in a bit, when she wakes up. Yeah, I will see you this evening."

She hung up the phone. "Well, he is pretty shocked," Cristina said. "He asked me to ask you if it would be alright to visit her in the hospital."

"I don't know about that," Owen said. "We will have to ask Sophie. There is a great deal resentment on Sophie's side, regarding their break-up."

"Okay, then," Cristina said. She reached for his hand. "I just want to let you know that I know it is going to be tough for both you and Sophie over the next couple of months. I am here for you, if you need me. So if you ever need me to help you out, like stay with Sophie, while you go out or if you need a break, you just have to knock on my door and I will be there."

He nodded. The things that he wanted to tell her, he could no longer do so. The timing of everything was now so bad. "Thanks, Cristina, you are a great friend," he said.

After breakfast, they headed back to the hospital to check on whether Sophie was awake. They were told that she had been moved to her room and they could see her.

When they got there, Sophie's eyes were still closed. Her body looked broken and her face was swollen. "She must still be asleep," Cristina whispered. As soon as Sophie heard her voice, she opened her eyes.

"Hey, Sophie," Owen said. "How are you doing?" She struggled with the tube in her mouth. "It's okay, you don't have to talk. Cristina and I waited for you to get out of surgery." Sophie looked at Cristina, gratefully.

"Hi, Sophie," Cristina said. "I am just so glad you made it through. All you have to do now is get better." She wondered if Sophie knew that she was paralyzed. Probably not, she thought. It was not her place to mention it. The doctor would have to see about that.

"Sophie, Julian wants to know if he could visit you," Owen said. "He isn't going to come, unless you say it is okay. Can you blink once for no and twice for yes?" She blinked once then blinked a second time. Owen was surprised at that. Sophie was actually willing to allow Julian to come visit her. That was a change of tune, he thought.

They stayed with her for a while, until Dr. Patel came by to tell her the news. Owen and Cristina nodded at him, when he started talking to Sophie, saying how well she did in the surgery. Then, his tone changed. Owen and Cristina both knew what he was going to tell Sophie. They could see the panic in her eyes as he told her. Then, she started to cry. Cristina felt so sorry for her, while it broke Owen's heart to see her that way. He went to her and held her hand.

Dr. Patel left the room to give them some privacy, as did Cristina. She sat outside near the nurses' station for about half an hour. She figured it would be best if she should go home and give Owen and Sophie the time to be by themselves. She felt like a third wheel and she had already served her purpose of offering support for Owen during the night. Cristina told the nurse that when the blonde gentleman emerged from the room if she could tell him that she had left and that if he needed her, she would be at home. She called a cab and headed home to her apartment. She was exhausted. She took a shower and then collapsed on her bed.

She didn't know how many hours had passed, when she heard the knocking on her door. She got up and answered the door. It was Owen. She let him in.

"Hey," he said. "You left."

"Yeah, I thought it would be best to leave you and Sophie alone, after she heard such devastating news," Cristina said. "It was probably better for Sophie without me hanging around."

"Yes, she did take it rather badly. I told her that with physical therapy and determination, she probably would be able to walk, again," he said. "She felt a little better but not a lot."

"So are you heading back there, later?" Cristina asked.

"Yes, I came home to grab something to eat, get a shower and a change of clothes," Owen said. "I may take a little nap, too."

"I took a nap," Cristina said. "I feel so much better. You really should, too."

"Okay," he said. "Going to my apartment, now." He started to leave. She ran to him and gave him a hug. He held her in his arms and they stayed like for that, for a few minutes.

"Thanks," he said, as he released her. "I needed that." He looked back at her, as he left. How much he wished he could tell her how he felt about her.

* * *

Later that evening, Julian went to the hospital with a bit of trepidation. Cristina had called him and told him that Sophie had said it would be alright to visit her. There was a time that he had deep feelings for Sophie. He knew he had greatly disappointed her but at that time of his life, he was not ready for serious commitment and had allowed her to walk out of his life.

He knocked on the door before he entered. She was alone because Owen had not yet come back from the apartment.

She was awake and they had removed the tube from her mouth, so she could now talk. Her throat was still a little sore.

"Hi, Sophie," Julian said. "How are you feeling?" He felt strange, being there. He looked at her swollen, bruised face. It reminded him of Cristina when she had that rollerblading accident.

"Okay, I guess," she said. "Thank you for coming."

"Yes, I just want to check on how you were doing," he said. "Just a terrible thing to have happened to you."

"You heard the bad news?" she asked.

"Yes, Cristina told me," Julian said. "I am so sorry." The tears started welling up, again in Sophie's eyes.

"Hey, hey," he said, coming forward to hold her hand, as she cried. "It's going to be okay, Sophie. You're a champ; you've always been strong. You're going to come out of this, better than ever." Sophie held on tightly to Julian's hand.

"Oh, Julian, I am just so scared," Sophie said. Julian stroked her hair and wiped away her tears. "You're going to be alright, Sophie."

Owen came back, just in time to see this scene. Julian's back was turned so he didn't see Owen. Owen backed away from the room and stood outside. In a way, he felt like he was intruding on them. He walked away and sat on a chair near the nurses' station. He waited until Julian left before he went into the room.

Sophie was asleep, when he got there. Julian had stayed until Sophie fell asleep. He found the most comfortable chair in the room since he was going to spend the night. He lay back on it and pondered how much life was going to change for all of them.

* * *

**A/N: Please leave your comments. I do appreciate your thoughts.**


	11. Chapter 11 Sophie comes home

Sophie had stayed in the hospital for a full three months, as she recovered. She had already gotten the hang of her wheelchair and she had started her physical therapy. Owen had picked her up from the hospital and took her home, the day she was discharged.

When he opened the door, they were greeted by Cristina in their apartment. She had put up a banner over the fireplace, "Welcome Home, Sophie" and there were balloons, tied to the chairs of the dining table. Sophie smiled when she saw it. It must have been a real test for Cristina to get that banner up there, given the younger woman's diminutive size.

"Thank you, Cristina," Sophie said. "How did you get the banner up?"

"Julian helped me, before he went to work," Cristina said. "He said to tell you welcome home and he will come by to visit when he gets home, this evening." Sophie smiled. During her stay at the hospital, both Cristina and Julian were frequent visitors.

Owen often brought Cristina with him during the day and Julian sometimes visited her in the evening, after work. She and Julian were getting along fine. The accident had opened Sophie's eyes that maybe, it wasn't worth having a grudge against someone. She almost died and she realized that life was too short to be filled with all of that hate. Instead, she remembered the good things that had happened between them during the course of the relationship and no longer dwelled on the bad things. Being positive in her outlook also helped her speedy recovery.

When Cristina and Owen visited, Sophie noticed something between Owen and Cristina. It was the way they looked at each other. When Owen looked at Cristina, his features softened, his eyes grew brighter and there was a constant smile on his face. Owen did not look at Sophie in the same way, she knew.

When Cristina looked at Owen, her whole face seemed to light up. She wondered if they were aware of it. The first time she saw it, she thought she was mistaken but the more she saw them together when they came to visit her, it had become clearer to her. Owen and Cristina had feelings for each other. However, she was also certain that Owen was not cheating on her with Cristina. He was an honorable man and he would not start a relationship with another woman, unless he was free and single.

She felt guilty about it because she was perfectly aware that if she had not been in the accident, there was the possibility that he would not have been with her, anymore. Yet, at the moment, she needed him more than ever to help her cope with her disability. It felt selfish but she made up her mind that when she no longer needed him, she was going to let him go. It was only fair because of all he had done for her. She knew there was still love between her and Owen but it was a different kind of love. They were more companions and friends, rather than lovers. That was the dynamic she had been noticing in their relationship before the accident. That was what she needed to talk to him about. Those had been her last thoughts before the accident. But now, she didn't feel the time was right to have that discussion. There would be a time she would have to let him go but it could not be now.

But that was not all. Sophie was also aware of her lingering feelings for Julian. They had come up more to the surface, since he started visiting her during the accident. He didn't come as often as Owen and Cristina did because his job prevented that. She looked forward to his visits, most of all. When she knew he was coming, she would ensure that her hair was brushed and she had on some light make-up, so she wouldn't look pale and washed out, under the harsh fluorescent hospital lights. There was no indication from Julian that he felt the same way but she reasoned that he had to feel something to keep visiting her. She didn't quite know what that was. Maybe it was just sympathy but even if it was just that, she was grateful for it.

"Sophie, do you want to stay out here or do you want to go to the bedroom?" Owen asked. "I can put out some blankets on the sofa, if you want to stay out here."

"No, just wheel me into the bedroom," she said. Owen pushed her wheelchair into the bedroom and helped her get into the bed. He came back out, just in time to see Cristina opening the front door to leave.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"Back to my apartment. I thought that you and Sophie would like to have some alone time," she said.

"I haven't seen you much for the day. Come on, stay with me, help me prepare lunch," he pleaded. He really wanted to spend some time with Cristina. She just made his rather somber life feel better. He felt stuck right now. He knew it wasn't Sophie's fault that she got into this accident but he felt a bit of resentment. If Sophie didn't need him right now, he could have been pursuing Cristina and who knows, they could have been in a real relationship, by this time.

"Okay," she said. "What do you need me to do?"

"Just chop up the onions, garlic and the vegetables," he said. "I think I am going to make a soup for the three of us."

She took out the cutting board and a knife and started her work. She had done this so many times before that she knew exactly where Owen kept everything in his kitchen. He smiled, amused by her concentration as she cut the vegetables. It felt like old times, before Sophie's accident, when it was just the two of them, spending the day together. He sorely missed those times. She caught him smiling at her and she smiled back. As always, her smile always made him feel warm on the inside. She made him happy. It was the best feeling in the world.

Cristina began telling him a story of one of her interviewees and how strange a personality he was. They laughed as she told him of the man's idiosyncrasies. From the bedroom, Sophie listened to their conversation and their laughter. She could hear the strain in Owen's voice disappear. Cristina was obviously very good for him. Sophie sighed.

* * *

Later that evening, Julian came by to visit Sophie. Owen opened the door for him. "Hello, Owen," Julian said. He was still dressed in his work suit, so it seemed that he decided to pop in there, before he went home.

"Hello, Julian. Come to visit Sophie?" Owen asked.

"Yes, just wanted to say hello before I went in to my apartment. To see if she is settling in well back at home," Julian said. "Can I go into the bedroom?"

"Sure," Owen said. Julian knocked on the bedroom door before he went in. "Hello, Sophie," Julian said, as he entered the bedroom and quietly, closed the door.

Owen listened to their conversation. Sophie seemed to be giddy with laughter as Julian regaled her with stories of his workday. There was a lightness in her voice that he didn't hear otherwise. Ten minutes later, Julian emerged from the bedroom.

"I am on my way," he said, as he headed to the front door.

"Tell Cristina that we will be going to the grocers, tomorrow," Owen said. "So if she could get her little butt out of bed, I would be grateful."

"Will do," Julian said, as he left.

* * *

The next morning, Owen knocked on Cristina's door at 8 a.m. He could hear her shuffling on the inside. Didn't he tell Julian to tell Cristina to get out of bed? She opened the door, in her usual state of half-sleep.

"Cristina, we are going to the grocery this morning. Why are you not up and ready?" he asked, as she came forward and rested her head against his chest.

"I tried but you didn't come by to bring me breakfast," she said, looking up and pouting.

"That's because I didn't go running this morning. I couldn't get breakfast for us. Come on, go get dressed. We will grab some sandwiches from the grocery," he said. She turned around and went to her bedroom. She emerged about half an hour later wearing a tiny white t-shirt and denim shorts and orange sneakers. Her curly hair was wrapped up in a thick ponytail at the back of her head. She looked like she was 12.

"I am ready," she said, as she picked up her five reusable grocery bags from the kitchen and walked out her front door. He smiled as he followed her, as he was mesmerized by her ponytail, which whipped from side to side, as she walked.

At the grocers, Lula, the cashier, always noticed when they came in. They were such an attractive couple and provided a sharp contrast in height and coloring. As usual, they separated as they came in, so they could shop for whatever was on their individual lists. The last items he needed were a couple bottles of white wine, which he used when he was cooking. He peered out at the check-out area and noticed that Cristina was not there. He thought she would have been finished by now. He noticed that Lula was looking at him. He gave her a sweet smile and the cashier's heart just about melted.

"Um, Lula," he said, as he read the woman's name tag. "If you see my girlfriend, could you just tell her that I am picking up a couple of bottles of wine and that's where I will be, if she is looking for me."

"Sure will, sugar," she said. Four minutes later, Cristina came up the aisle and stared at the cashiers' check-out for Owen. She was finished with her shopping. Lula spotted her and said, "Tall blonde guy told me to tell you that if I saw his girlfriend, he was choosing out some wines, if you were looking for him. So, I am telling you."

"Oh," Cristina said. Did the cashier just say that Owen had called her his girlfriend? She was about to turn her cart, when Owen came barreling out from the other aisle.

"Ah, there you are," he said, happily.

"Yeah, the cashier told me that you had gone to get some wines," she said. "Are you done, now?"

"Yes," Owen said. Lula beckoned them to her station. As she ran their goods through the scanner, she looked at them and said, "I have a confession to make. You two are one of my favorite couples to shop here. I always look forward to seeing you guys, every two weeks."

"Thank you. Cristina and I love shopping here," Owen said. He put his arm around her and squeezed her. Cristina glanced up at Owen. He made no effort to correct Lula that they were not together and was in fact, reinforcing Lula's misconception that they were a couple.

As they got home, he helped her with her groceries into her apartment and helped her pack them away. As usual, she was struggling to put up some cereal boxes on to the top shelf of her pantry. He came up behind her and took them from her and placed them on the shelf. It was an enclosed space and a tight fit for the two of them. She could smell his after-shave cologne and it turned her on. It wasn't just the after-shave, it was the way it combined with his own chemistry.

Owen, on the other hand, breathed in her perfume. It reminded him of the ocean and of sunny days at the beach, collecting shells. He closed his eyes and imagined himself at the ocean with her, lying down next to him. It was only when she made a swift turn and whipped him hard with her ponytail that his reverie was broken.

He suddenly felt a little embarrassed and mumbled that he had to go check on Sophie. Cristina watched him as he left, the scent of his after-shave still clinging on her. She hugged herself.

He went back to his apartment and closed the door and slid down the length of the door. "I love you, Cristina. I love you so much," he said, unaware that he had said it out aloud. He got up from the floor and checked on Sophie. She looked to be asleep. As he left to go pack his own groceries, he softly closed the bedroom door.

Sophie opened her eyes. She had not been asleep. She had heard Owen say the words that he loved another woman.

* * *

**A/N: Please leave your comments. Thanks. I do appreciate reading them and it really helps in the writing and thinking process.**


	12. Chapter 12 Getting closer to the truth

Sophie had now been home a month, now. Truth be told, she and Owen had never spent that amount of time with each other in the years that they lived together. There was such a thing as too much togetherness, they both thought.

One morning, when she and Owen were having their breakfast at the table, she decided to make an announcement. "I was thinking," Sophie said. "That I should go back to work." Owen looked up, surprised.

"Are you sure?" he asked. "I know your physical therapy has been going well but are you ready?"

"Yes, I am ready. My legs may not work as well, anymore but my brain is still intact. I am a trained lawyer and I can still be a lawyer. Lots of people in wheelchairs work," she said.

"Okay, Sophie. This is a good sign and I am happy for you," he said. "Do you want me to drop you off at work and pick you up?"

"Well, I was thinking that since Julian and I both work downtown, maybe he can drop me off and pick me up," she said. "In that way, it won't be so much of a bother to you."

"You know it's not a bother," he said. "But logistically, it does make sense for him to take you. I guess you will have to ask him."

"I already did," Sophie said. "He said he doesn't have a problem with it. I also called my boss and he said that he was pleased that I wanted to come back to work. So it is all settled, really. I start next week Monday."

"So, I guess then everything has already been in train," Owen said. "It will probably be good for you to start work, again. What about your physical therapy sessions?"

"My boss said he had no problem with me, keeping up with my physical therapy and he said he would arrange for his driver to take me to them," Sophie said. "Isn't he a great boss?"

"Yes, he is," Owen said. It was terrible but the first thought he had was he could resume having breakfast with Cristina, now that Sophie was going back to work. With Sophie home, he hadn't had breakfast with Cristina for a while, now . He missed that, so badly and so did she.

Cristina was alone in her apartment, chewing on a piece of burnt toast, when she heard the knock on the door. She was a little surprised that someone was there. The only person who ever came to her house at an early hour was Owen but he hadn't done that in a while, since Sophie came home from the hospital. She missed their breakfast mornings when he would come by after his morning run and bring baked goodies for her. Here, she was, eating a piece of burnt toast and drinking some brackish tea, all by herself. She got up and answered the door. She was more than pleasantly surprised to discover that it was Owen at the door. He had a huge smile on his face.

"Hey," she said, happily. "What's up? Come on in." He stepped into the apartment and eyed her woeful breakfast. She followed his gaze and knew what he was thinking.

"What are you eating?" he asked. She felt a little ashamed. "Um, some toast and some tea. I burned the toast a little bit."

"That wasn't a little bit. That's a lot," he said. "Didn't I teach you how to make a good breakfast for yourself?"

"Yes," she said. "But it is kinda hard to make a fuss about breakfast when there is no one to share it with." She looked at him with puppy-dog eyes.

"Ah, that is what I have come over to tell you. From next Monday, I can resume my morning runs and having breakfast together," he said.

"How come?" she said. "What about Sophie?"

"Well, Sophie is going back to work and she has arranged with Julian for him to take her downtown," Owen said.

"Really?" Cristina replied. "He didn't tell me about it. Well, if that is the case, yay for Sophie for going back to work and yay for us, we can have breakfast, again." She ran and gave him a hug. He held her into his arms and buried his face in her hair. It smelled clean, citrusy and fresh. "You washed your hair, this morning," he said. "It smells good." She suddenly became self-aware of how close their bodies were. It felt good to be in his arms but yet, it felt wrong in one way and oh-so-right in another way.

She released herself from his arms. "Yes, well, let me finish my breakfast," she said. She went and sat down at the table and started chewing again at her toast. What had just happened there, he thought. Why did she pull away from him?

"Why don't I make you a good breakfast?" he said. He headed straight to the kitchen and put together an omelet in a jiffy. "Here you go, my lady," he said, as he served her. "Plus toast that is not burnt."

"Thank you," she said, gratefully. That piece of burnt toast did not taste good. "You aren't eating?" she asked, as she dug her fork into the omelet.

"No, I ate already. I had breakfast, already," he said. He watched her ravenously eat her breakfast. "Seems you're hungry." She nodded.

"So if Sophie is going to work, then we can go out and you can come with me on my interviews and we can cook, together, once again," she said. "It will be just like old times."

"Yes," he said. "Just like how we were, before the accident." Well, not exactly like how we were, Cristina thought. She had become even more aware of how she felt about him. When he was no longer spending as much time with her, she had greatly missed his presence in her life. It made her feel empty and alone and it seemed the light had gone out of her life. She never thought that she would feel like this and she came to the realization that she loved him. But he was with Sophie, who was in an accident and who couldn't walk at the moment. It was not a good time, she knew. There was no way that Owen was going to leave Sophie, while she was in this state. She knew it would be best if she kept all of her feelings bottled inside. What good would come of it, if she told him that she loved him, she thought. Except for the fact that he would know that she loved him but there would be nothing that either of them could do about it. She wondered how he felt about her Maybe she was only fooling herself. She decided to broach the topic of in a more subtle way, or so she thought.

"Owen, I need your advice. I have a friend, who thinks that he may be in love with someone, who may be taboo to him. Should he tell her how he feels?" she asked. She had deliberately changed the gender of the "friend", so he would not have an inkling that she was talking about herself.

He, on the other hand, was confused. Who was this guy she was talking about? Did she get a new friend while he was busy taking care of Sophie? He was alarmed at the thought. Had he been replaced as her friend? He racked his brain, thinking who in the apartment building, could it be.

"Who is this friend?" he asked. He wanted to know.

"Just a friend. Who he is, is not important," she said. "Just answer the question and let me know what you think."

"Well, it depends on the situation. Why is she taboo to him?" he asked. "Her dad is going to take the shotgun to him, if he reveals his feelings to her."

"No, that's not it. There are other people involved. She is with someone else," she said. "He doesn't know if he should do it because of that. But the longer he waits, the more it is killing him on the inside." Wait a minute, he thought, was she talking about him? How did she know all of this? As far as he could remember, he never let on that he loved her. Did she already know that he loved her?

"Oh," he said. "Would the situation change if he told her?"

"Maybe," she said. "They could get uncomfortable with each other after he told her." It seemed to him, like it was this was more and more like his current situation.

"Then, maybe he shouldn't risk it," Owen said. "He could still have her in his life, if he didn't tell her."

"Plus he doesn't know if she feels anything for him," Cristina said. That definitely sounded like him, Owen thought. "That's a bummer," he said. "Has she shown any interest in him?"

"Well, they do hug and they spend a lot of time together," she said. This was hitting too close to home, Owen thought. It was as if she was in his mind and reading all of his thoughts. He felt uncomfortable discussing this any further. He got up. "I think I have to check on Sophie," he said. "I will talk to you, a little later."

"Okay, Owen," she said. "Thanks for talking to me." She watched him open the door and leave. She was such an idiot, she thought.

Owen got back to his apartment and sat down on the sofa. He could hear the television on in the bedroom. It seemed like Sophie was watching a movie. That last conversation with Cristina had him uneasy. It was like his life was an open book and Cristina was reading it, page by page. Was she telling him that he should say what he was feeling? It was too much to fathom, right now, so he took out his computer and started working on his latest assignment. He became so engrossed that he had not realized that hours had passed. He looked at the time on his computer and realized he had to get lunch for Sophie. He made three club sandwiches, one for himself, one for Sophie and one for his little curly haired neighbor across from him. After seeing about Sophie, he walked across the hall and knocked on the door. Cristina yelled, "Come on in!"

"Cristina, you don't tell people to come on in, when you don't know who they are," Owen said, as he opened the door and stepped inside the apartment.

"Oh, I was expecting someone," she explained. "I thought you were him." Who was this someone she was expecting? Was this her "friend" that she had talked about, earlier? His hackles were raised. There he was, taking time out to take care of Sophie, and she had replaced him with another "friend." He did not like that, at all. Was he that replaceable in her heart?

"I brought you a chicken club sandwich," he said. "I thought you might be hungry." Her face lit up when she saw the sandwich. She came forward and took it from him.

"Thanks," she said. "I am hungry."

"So when is your 'friend' coming over?" he asked.

"What friend?" she replied, as she bit into the sandwich.

"The one, you're waiting for," he fumed. "Who is he? What floor is he on? Does he work at home, too? How come I have never seen him? Is he the stupid guy in love with a girl that he can't have?"

"Hold on, where is all of that coming from?" she said. "I am not waiting for a friend. I am waiting for the cable guy. The cable went out and he said he was coming."

"So who is your friend, the one you were talking about this morning?" he asked. Cristina didn't quite know what to say, given that the friend really didn't exist and it was herself that she was talking about. Owen seemed quite upset and getting more agitated, she thought, maybe it was time to come clean.

"There is no friend, Owen, I just made that up," she said. He look puzzled, now. "Why?" he asked. "Who were you talking about, then?" Was it him she was talking about?

"Me," she answered, staring at the ground. She put down the sandwich. She really couldn't eat, anymore. "I was talking about me. I am the guy, even though I am not really a guy."

"So you are in love with someone?" he asked.

"Yes, I am in love with someone I cannot have," she said, looking up at him. His heart started beating faster.

* * *

**A/N: Please leave your comments. I do appreciate when you do.**


	13. Chapter 13 What We All Feel

"Who are you in love with?" Owen asked. He tried to keep calm but the shakiness in his voice was betraying him.

"I think you know who it is," Cristina said, looking up into his blue eyes. Surely, he could see how obvious it was that she loved him.

"Me? You love me? You love me!" he yelled. He ran to her and picked her up and hugged her tightly. He put her down and buried his face in her curls, still holding her close.

"Well, that was a better reception than I expected," she said, her words were muffled, as her face was against his chest.

"Can you say the words?" he pleaded. "Please, I want to hear the words from your lips."

"Okay. I love you, Owen," she said. He grinned down at her. "I love you, too, Cristina."

"You do? That makes me feel so much better," Cristina said. "I was wondering whether it would only be me, saying it."

Their lips found each other's as they shared a kiss for the first time, fulfilling months of longing for each other. He savored the softness of her delicate mouth under his.

They held each other for a while, lost in the cocoon of their love, until the reality of their situation finally hit the both of them. As they broke apart, they stared at each other.

"So what are we going to do now?" Cristina said. "Our situation doesn't change, now that we have declared our love for each other."

"I know," Owen said, softly. "But at least, we both know how we feel about each other."

"You can't leave Sophie," Cristina said. "We both know that she needs you now."

"Yeah, I know that," Owen said. "I wish things were different. Actually, on the day that Sophie got into the accident, I was going to end it with her. I was going to tell her that we should go our separate ways. I wanted to be free, so I could tell you that I wanted to be with you and that I loved you. But things didn't work out the way I planned."

"Oh," Cristina said.

"I have to ask, though," Owen said. "What about Julian? Just a couple of months ago, he was asking you to marry him. Has anything changed, since? What do you feel about him?"

"Julian has been okay for the past couple of months. He hasn't brought back up the engagement, since. I love him but in a different way than I love you," Cristina admitted. "We're getting along but there is no spark there. We are more like great friends."

"That's the same way with Sophie and me. Well, that was the way we were, too, before the accident. We were not lovers, anymore, just companions," Owen said. "And I am pretty sure she was feeling it, too. We weren't intimate even before the accident."

"How can we continue like this?" Cristina said. "I mean we want to be together, right?"

"More than anything," Owen said. "Let's wait it out, until Sophie is settled back into work and then, maybe, we can let them know how we feel."

"Okay," Cristina said. "I can wait that out." He reached for her and kissed her again.

* * *

The next week, Owen helped Sophie get dressed and wheeled her to the elevator, as they headed down to the parking lot of the building. Julian and Cristina were already waiting for them at Julian's car.

"Good morning," Julian said. "Are we ready to go back to work?"

"Yes, so much," Sophie said, giving Julian a huge smile. Julian came and picked her up and gently placed her in the passenger seat of his car. "Comfortable?" he asked. She nodded, as she strapped herself in. Owen folded Sophie's wheelchair and put it in the trunk of the car.

"Good luck, Sophie," Cristina said.

"Thanks, Cristina," Sophie responded. Julian got into the other side of the car and started the car. Sophie waved at Cristina and Owen. As they drove off, she looked back at them and saw that Owen put his arm around Cristina and kissed her at the top of her head. She wondered if Julian was aware of what Owen and Cristina felt for each other. She looked at Julian's fine patrician profile and admired how handsome he was. Over the last few months since the accident, she had become acutely aware of how all of her buried feelings about Julian were coming back up to the surface. He had been so kind and tender and considerate of all of her needs. She knew she still loved him but she wondered if he had any feelings towards her. After all, it was just a couple of months ago that he was offering his young girlfriend an engagement ring.

Now that they were alone without the presence of either Cristina or Owen around, it was probably the time to talk about this. She wanted to know if there was anything there or had she been imagining his care and consideration as something more than him being a sympathetic friend.

"Julian, there is something I would like to talk to you about," she started. He looked across at her and gave her a smile. "Sure," he said. "What's on your mind?"

"It's about the two of us," she said. "The two of us?" he replied, in a puzzled tone.

"Yes, the last few months have been really good for the two of us. We've overcome the grudges of the past and for that, I am grateful," Sophie said. Julian reached over and squeezed her hand, saying, "Yeah, me too."

"But it is more than that," Sophie continued, bravely. She was putting her heart out there and she hoped that Julian was not going to stomp on it. "Okay," he answered, giving her a sideways glance. What was Sophie going to say, he wondered. She looked like she was starting to sweat.

"I think my feelings for you have come back," she said. "I am thinking of you as being more than a friend."

"What?" Julian said, not quite sure of what he was hearing. "You have feelings for me? Romantic feelings?" She nodded, weakly. He looked at her, wondering what he could say. He drove in silence for a few minutes.

"Say something, Julian. I am dying here," she pleaded.

"Okay, it is just a bit of a shock," Julian said. "I wasn't aware that you felt this way. You know I have always been a little bit dense when it comes to human interaction. Tell you what, I cannot formulate my reaction to this bit of news right now. I need to think about it because I too, have been having some nostalgic feelings about you and I really have to sort that out, especially as you know, there are two other people involved, other than you and me."

"Owen and Cristina," Sophie said. "Yes," Julian said. "Just a couple of months ago, I wanted to marry Cristina. So it is not like I don't have feelings for her. I have to sort out what I feel for her and what I feel for you."

Sophie understood that. She contemplated what she knew about Owen and Cristina and their love for each other. "Would it help if I told you that I know that Owen and Cristina have feelings for each other?"

"What? What are you saying?" Julian said, gripping the steering wheel tightly. Sophie could see his knuckles turning white. "How do you know this?"

"I see the way that they look at each other. Their faces light up when they see each other. Haven't you seen it?" she said. "Owen has never looked at me like that. Besides, I heard him say it, too. He thought I was asleep but I heard him say that he loved her, aloud, in our apartment."

"Is she cheating on me?" Julian asked. No matter what he was feeling for Sophie, he was still hurt by the possibility that Cristina could be cheating on him.

"No," Sophie said. "I don't think so. Owen is not the type. He would prefer to be single before he does something like that." Julian felt a small measure of relief but he still felt uneasy.

"Even before the accident, I could feel a distancing from him. I had wanted to talk to him about it but then, the accident happened and all of that went out the window," she said, looking at him. "I don't think he is going to leave me because he would feel this obligation to stay with me while I am in this state. He is a good man."

Julian was in a state of flux. His mind was now overcrowded with so many conflicting thoughts. It was true that he had been feeling something for Sophie but it was also true, he still had feelings about Cristina. Then, to find out that Owen and Cristina had been harboring feelings for each other, was blowing his mind. He needed to sort it out.

"So what are we going to do?" Sophie said.

"Give me some time, Sophie. I need to figure this out all on my own," he said. "But thank you for telling me how you feel. It cements certain things that I thought I was imagining."

He pulled up to her office building and parked in their lot. He got out and took out her wheelchair. He helped her into it and pushed her into her office building. "Welcome back, Miss Malloy," the security guard said. "So good to see you back at work. We have missed you."

"Thanks, Griffin," Sophie said. "I can find my way around, Julian. You can go to work. Will you let me know, as soon as you have sorted it out in your brain?"

"Yes," he said. He bent down and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Have a wonderful day, Sophie. I will be back, later to pick you up."

"Thanks, Julian," she said. She watched him leave the building, before heading to the elevator to get up to her office for her first day of work in months.

* * *

Owen and Cristina were having an awesome day, together. In Owen's mind, it seemed easier, now that she knew that he loved her and he was elated to find that she loved him, too. That was the best part. She loved him, he thought. SHE LOVED HIM! It made his life with Sophie seem almost bearable because he knew he had Cristina's love.

They had gone out for the day, just like they used to before Sophie's accident. They had gone to the beach, right after Sophie and Julian left. He had laid out a blanket and she lay in her tiny black bikini, enjoying the sun.

"This is the best thing about living in southern California," Owen said. "We can go to the beach, year round."

"Yeah," she said. She sat up and rested her head against his shoulder. "I really missed going out with you."

"So did I," he said. They watched as a young couple with two small children passed them. The woman was holding a baby girl, about six months old, while the man was hand in hand with a little boy, a toddler about two years old. The couple waved at them, as they passed.

Owen had the thought that could be him and Cristina in the future, if they ever managed to get out of their current situation. Then she said it, "Maybe, that could be us, in a couple of years." He reached over and touched her head on his shoulder. He was happy that she actually had the same thought that he had. "Of course, in addition to the two kids, we are going to have two dogs," he said.

"Two dogs?" she said. "Isn't one dog enough?"

"Nope, two dogs needed. They must have a companion. Everyone does better when they have a companion," Owen said. "Plus we are going to have a house. No more apartment living. A house by the beach, two kids and two dogs."

They both grinned at the thought. Then, her phone buzzed. She looked at it. It was a message from Julian.

She read it out aloud, "Must talk to you, tonight. All four of us."

"What?" Owen said. "What is that all about?" Cristina shook her head to indicate that she didn't know.

* * *

**A/N Please leave your comments. Thanks for taking the time to leave your thoughts.**


	14. Chapter 14 An Interesting Proposal

There was a knock on Owen and Sophie's door. They shared a glance as they were both waiting for that knock. Owen got up from the couch and opened the door. It was Julian and Cristina, as expected.

"Hey," Owen said. "Come on in. Have a seat. Can I get you guys anything to drink?" Julian shook his head but Cristina said she would take a glass of water. Owen went to the kitchen and returned with a tall cool glass of water and handed it to Cristina. Their fingers touched as he handed her the glass. The slight touch made them smile at each other. Julian noticed it, immediately. Sophie was right about them. He wondered why he never saw this before.

Owen took a seat next to her on the couch. Julian was sitting in the armchair, while Sophie was in her wheelchair.

"Yes, Julian, you asked that all four of us have this discussion," Owen said. "So, what's up?"

Julian cleared his throat. "Um, yes. Sophie apprised me of certain things today and I have spent the day, pondering what it all means. I thought it would be best if everything was out in the open."

"Sophie?" Owen looked at her, with one eyebrow raised. What could she have been discussing with Julian? Sophie suddenly felt uncomfortable under Owen's scrutiny. She squirmed a little bit in her chair. She was starting to feel the same way she had felt, earlier in the day, when she was confessing her feelings to Julian.

"Um…am, yes. This morning, on the way to work, I decided to tell Julian how I felt," she started.

"Felt about what?" Cristina piped up.

"How I felt about him," Sophie said. Owen and Cristina's mouths dropped open. Sophie decided to continue, since she clearly had their full attention.

"Since the accident, as you already kinow, Julian started visiting me, again," Sophie said, feeling the heat of the three pairs of eyes, staring at her. She wrung her hands, as she continued, "Having him come see me stirred up some deep-seated feelings that I had, which, if I am being honest with myself, never really went away."

"Go on," Owen encouraged. He knew what Sophie was trying to say and wanted her to say it because it didn't make him feel so bad about feeling the way he did about Cristina.

"May I interject here for a moment?" Julian asked. "When Sophie told me that she was having feelings for me, it really caught me by surprise. I wasn't sure what to think. But I had to admit that when Sophie and I became on good terms again, it was easy to remember how good we once were. Our relationship had been built originally on love. To be honest, I started to have those feelings for Sophie, too." He looked across at his former girlfriend and gave a smile, which she returned. Julian looked across at Cristina. Her face did not betray what she was feeling.

"However, Cristina, this does not mean that I don't have feelings for you, too," he said. "Just a couple of months ago, I had got down on one knee and I had made my intentions known about making you my wife. I know you turned me down, then but the offer still stood.

"This morning, other than the surprise that Sophie gave me, she also told me that you and Owen have feelings for one another. Is that true?"

Cristina nodded. "Yes, I love Owen." Owen put his arm around her. "I love Cristina, too." He kept his arm around her in case she had to face Julian's wrath. He needed to protect her.

"So what Sophie says it is true. Sophie tells me that she doesn't think the two of you are cheating on us but I need to hear it for myself," Julian said. "Are you cheating on me, Cristina?"

"If you are asking if Owen and I have slept with each other, the answer to that question is no. But we have kissed each other. Twice and that is about it," Cristina said, honestly. Sophie gasped. She hadn't thought that they had kissed. Cristina looked at her, apologetically.

"I see," Julian said. "So does this mean you don't love me, anymore?"

"I love you but not in the same way that I love Owen," she admitted. "I love you but I am not in love with you. I am in love with Owen." That was the best way she could explain it.

"Oh," Julian said. He sat down, feeling a little crushed. He had suspected what Sophie said was true but he didn't expect it still to hurt.

"I am sorry," Owen said, softly. "It just happened. Spending time with each other – it just started to feel right."

There was silence in the room. It was as if nobody knew what to say, until Sophie finally spoke.

"Now everything is out in the open, what are we going to do now? It is clear that we cannot continue like this," she said. "Especially our living arrangements since I know that Owen is only staying with me because he feels some sort of obligation with regards to my current situation." She waved her hands over her wheelchair.

"Ah, yes, our living arrangements," Julian said. He looked at Cristina. "I guess this means that you don't want to live with me, anymore."

"I am sorry, Julian," she said. "I don't think we should continue living together. I will start making arrangements to move out."

"Where are you going to go?" Owen said, alarmed. He knew that Cristina did not have anywhere to go, since she knew so few people in the area.

"I don't know. I guess I could find an apartment, somewhere cheaper," she said. "I can't afford a place like this on my income." Owen looked at her, sadly. Sophie caught his look and decided to speak.

"Owen, I am releasing you of any obligation that you feel that you should stay with me," she interjected. "Maybe you can go with Cristina."

"But you still need help," Owen said. "There are things you still can't do."

"It's okay, Owen," Sophie said, quietly. "I will be alright. I have to learn how to get around by myself."

"Are you sure?" Owen asked. He was still a man of compassion and honor, even though in his heart, he wanted to be with Cristina.

"Okay, I am going to propose something here," Julian said. "It is clear that we do have to do something about our living arrangements. Cristina doesn't need to move out of the apartment. I will move out."

"But I can't afford it by myself," Cristina said. Julian put up his hand to shush her so he could continue.

"Owen will move in with you and I will move in with Sophie," Julian concluded.

"What?" Sophie said. "You will move in with me?" She was ecstatic about that proposal. Her smile lit up her entire face.

"Yes, it makes the most sense. We already have two apartments, here, in a very nice neighborhood. We don't want to break our leases. And Sophie, Owen is right. You still need help. I can help you," Julian said. "They want to be together. Owen can move in with Cristina and I will be here with you." He looked at the three of them. "Of course, if that is okay with all of you."

Cristina and Owen looked at each other. He took her hand into his. "Yes," he said. "I will move in with Cristina."

"I guess that is all that needs to be said," Julian said. He offered his hand to Owen for him to shake it. Owen did so.

"This is all remarkably civil," Owen said. He didn't expect that from Julian. After all, he had been witness to Julian's angry outbursts before.

"I want both Cristina and Sophie to be happy," Julian responded. "I care about the both of them. In this way, it works out well for the two of them."

"Yes, so do I," Owen replied. "In terms of the move, how are we going to go about this?"

"I guess the easiest thing to do is just leave everything the way it is. Furniture and everything will stay and we just move across our personal belongings. I am not particularly attached to any furniture piece in the apartment," Julian said, silently examining the furniture in Owen and Sophie's apartment and concluding that it would be adequate.

"Neither am I. So what about tonight?" Owen asked. "It would make things less awkward if we just moved across tonight." He really wanted to be with Cristina, tonight.

"Okay," Julian agreed. "I will just pack up and you can do the same. I will be back in an hour or so." He walked out of the apartment.

Cristina got up, "I guess I can go help him." She followed Julian back to their apartment.

An hour or so later, the two men passed each other with their suitcases to go to the other's apartment. They just nodded, as they handed each other their key. There was little else they could say or do at this point.

Owen carried in his suitcases through the open doorway. He closed the door behind him. This was now his apartment. He had to remember he was now living in 6D.

"Cristina," he called out. She came out of the bedroom at the sound of his voice.

"Hey," she said. "I guess, come on in. You can pack away your stuff in the closet. I will help you." They swiftly packed away his clothing. It greatly amused him to see Cristina folding his underwear and putting them away.

When they were through, he asked if she wanted some hot chocolate. She gave him a quick smile and said yes. As he went into the kitchen and made them some chocolate, she watched him from the sofa, happy that he was there. He handed her a cup and he sat down next to her.

She snuggled against him and he wrapped his arm around her. They both sipped at their hot chocolate.

"We're together," she said. "I never thought it would happen so fast."

"Yeah, me too," he said, as he nuzzled the top of her head. "I can't believe that Julian was the one who proposed all of this."

"That was surprising," Cristina concurred. "He has never been that reasonable a person."

"I guess he does care about Sophie," Owen said. "I am glad. Sophie should have someone who cares about her in that way. It wasn't going to be me and I really didn't want to hurt her."

"Are we going to make love tonight?" she said, looking up at him.

"Only if you want to," he said, grinning at her. He pulled up her face to meet her lips and they shared a deep kiss.

"You taste like chocolate," he said. "So do you," she replied. He took the cup from her hand and washed them, before coming back and offering his hand to her.

"I like that," she said. "That you tidied up before we're going in. Julian would have just left the cup, there." She rose up from the couch and took his hand. He pulled her towards him and they started kissing again.

"That would attract ants and then we would have an insect problem," he said, between kisses.

"Interesting that we're talking about insects, while we are kissing," she said. "Not the most romantic of topics."

"Okay," he said. "No more insect talk." He picked her up and she wrapped her legs around his waist, as he carried her to the bedroom. He softly deposited her on the bed. "Let's see what you have been hiding from me under all of these clothes."

He unzipped her jeans and shimmied them off her slim, shapely legs. "I like," he said. Then he slipped off her shirt over her head and then her bra and her underwear. As she lay naked in front of him, she felt a little bit self-conscious and tried to grab her blanket to cover herself up.

"Don't," he said, pulling away the blanket. "I want to look at you. I have imagined this moment for months and I want to remember it. Gosh, you are beautiful."

"Well, you have to be naked, too," she said. "If I am naked, then you have to be, too."

"No problem," he said, as he stripped off his t-shirt, jeans and underwear.

"I like," she said, looking at him up and down.

"I hope so," he said, as he lay next to her and then, pulled her up on top of him. "I love you, Cristina."

"I love you, too, Owen," she said, as her lips crashed on to his own.

* * *

**A/N: Please leave your comments. I do appreciate when you leave your thoughts. Thanks.**


	15. Chapter 15 The Fight

"Ah, Mr. Hunt," the manager of the building, Mr. Suarez, called out to him.

"Oh, good morning, Mr. Suarez," Owen said. He was returning from his morning jog and was carrying coffee and baked goodies for his girlfriend.

"A package came for you, yesterday," Mr. Suarez said, going back into his office and taking out a large brown package. "I think they have the address wrong, though. It says 6D. You don't live in 6D, do you? I always thought you lived in 6C." He handed Owen the package and watched as Owen put the package on the ground and then balanced his breakfast items on top of the package, before picking up everything.

"Well, yes, I used to live in 6C but I now live in 6D," Owen said, firmly.

"But I thought that Ms. Yang and Mr. Jones lived in 6D," Mr. Suarez said, completely puzzled by this.

"Well, Ms. Yang still lives there and Mr. Jones moved into 6C," Owen explained.

"Ms. Malloy is still in 6C, right?" Mr. Suarez asked. Owen nodded. He knew all of this sounded very strange to Mr. Suarez. He decided to get out of there fast and headed to the elevator. The last thing he saw before the elevator doors closed was Mr. Suarez's confused face.

Owen understood that expression. If he was a casual bystander and not an integral part of the situation, he too would have been puzzled by the dynamics of these two relationships. Surely, people thought they were swinger couples, who just decided to change mates. To the outside world, that looked to be true but Owen knew that the change had been predicated by love.

He got into their apartment, put the breakfast on the table, opened his package and threw away the box for recycling. He then went into the bedroom and found Cristina still fast asleep. He smiled as he stripped off his clothes and went to the bathroom for a shower. When he came back, he changed into a t-shirt and a sweatpants and climbed into the bed, next to her.

"Wake up, baby. I brought breakfast," he said. She murmured and snuggled back into him. He put his arm around her and pulled her in. "You still have to wake up or our coffee will get too cold."

"You can warm it up in the microwave," she said. "Let's just lay here for a bit."

"I met Mr. Suarez this morning and he seemed downright puzzled about the change in our living arrangements," he said. "He probably doesn't know what to think."

Cristina laughed. "Yeah, well it does sound strange. But who cares? We're happy, right?"

"We are very happy," Owen said. "What are your plans for the day?"

"I have an interview in Calabasas," Cristina said. "But that shouldn't take me more than two hours. What about you?"

"I'm finishing up an assignment and I am submitting it this morning, so I am pretty free for the day," he said. "If you want, I can come with you to Calabasas."

"Marvelous," she said. "Then we can grab lunch somewhere new."

"If you wish. I love living with you," he whispered in her ear. "Me, too. Best decision ever made," she replied.

* * *

They continued in domestic bliss for the next three months. During that time, they celebrated their birthdays – she turned 24, he turned 31. Their birthdays coincidentally were only one day apart so they had a two day celebration and decided to go away for the weekend, far away from the craziness of the LA area. They both realized that it was now about a year since Cristina and Julian had moved into the apartment building. It turned out to be a very eventful year for the two couples.

They had just returned from their weekend retreat and were relaxing at home, when they heard an urgent knock on the door.

"Oh, gosh. Who could that be?" Cristina groaned. Owen got up and opened the door. To his surprise, standing at their doorway was Sophie.

"You're standing! That means you're walking!" Owen exclaimed "That is just so wonderful, Sophie." He stopped when he saw her face. She looked like she was about to cry. "What's the matter?"

"Can I come in?" she asked.

"Sure," Owen said, as he turned his body to let her in. He closed the door behind her.

"This is fabulous, Sophie," Cristina said. "Julian must be thrilled." At the sound of Julian's name, Sophie started to cry. Owen came to her and gave her a hug as she wept. He and Cristina exchanged looks because they clearly did not know what was going on, here. They allowed her to calm down first before they started asking questions. Owen put her to sit down and offered her a couple of tissues. His t-shirt was wet from her tears.

"So what happened?" he asked.

"Julian left me," Sophie said. Both Owen and Cristina were shocked and their faces showed it.

"What? Why?" Cristina spluttered.

"As you can see, I can walk," Sophie said. "The thing is that I have been able to walk for a while, now. I didn't tell Julian when it happened. "

"Why?" Owen said, puzzled.

"Because I thought one of the reasons that he was staying with me is because I was in the wheelchair," Sophie said, sobbing once again. "I couldn't lose him, again."

"Today, he found out that I have been able to walk for a month now. He met my physical therapist, Glen, when he went to the hospital to pay my bills. Glen told him that it was totally amazing that I had made a full recovery and I was walking," Sophie said. "Julian was totally shocked because as far as he knew, I was still in the wheelchair."

"Oh, Sophie," Owen said. "That was so not the thing to do."

"But I was afraid he was going to leave me, once I was out of the wheelchair," Sophie cried. "I needed him to stay with me and I was afraid."

"Well, he still left you," Cristina said. "And it is not because you can walk. It is because you lied to him." Owen gave Cristina a stern look. She didn't have to be scolding Sophie like this, when she was obviously in such a terrible state.

"I know," Sophie wailed. Owen sat next to her and put his hand on her back. Cristina shook her head. It was all Sophie's fault and there was Owen, being sympathetic to her. Cristina did not blame Julian for leaving Sophie. She had deliberately lied to him. Cristina sighed and decided to leave the two of them in the living room. She went into the bedroom, changed into her pjs, brushed her teeth and put on the television to drown out the noise of Sophie's crying.

When Sophie finally left about an hour later, Owen came into the bedroom to find Cristina fast asleep but the television still on. He turned off the television, then changed into his pjs and brushed his teeth. He got in next to Cristina. He looked at her – she looked so peaceful with her dark curls framing her face. He found that to be a sharp contrast to how unsympathetic she had been earlier to Sophie. He was mad at her for being so insensitive to Sophie's feelings, especially at a time when his former girlfriend needed his friendship and understanding.

Over the next few weeks, it seemed that Sophie was relying on Owen's friendship and understanding more and more, much to Cristina's chagrin. Since Sophie did not have a man about the apartment, she relied on Owen to do things around the apartment like help her kill a spider in her bathroom or fix a kitchen cupboard door that had come loose or re-program her DVR. Every day, she needed Owen for something new. Every time, Sophie would call Owen to help her out, Cristina would roll her eyes. He was greatly aware of how Cristina felt about the situation and he wished that she would be more sympathetic to Sophie's plight. He was just trying to help her out, show her some compassion, since she was all alone now. Sophie wasn't used to being alone, he thought.

But Cristina did not see it that way. She saw Sophie as an intrusion in their couple life. She certainly understood how Sophie was feeling but she also thought that Sophie had created her own mess by lying to Julian. Cristina didn't say much about it, except for some snide, bitter comments, that Owen chose to ignore. That is, until the evening, when Cristina and Owen went off to the grocery to do their shopping.

Lula, the grocery cashier, noticed them, immediately. But there was something different about the two of them, today. They didn't look as happy as they normally did. That was because after getting their grocery carts, Owen pulled out another grocery list that Cristina knew that was not their own. It was a handwriting that she did not recognize.

"Whose list is that?" she asked, even though she already had an inkling.

"Um, Sophie asked me to get a few things for her, since she knew we were going to the grocery today," Owen said. Cristina scoffed, "You not only cook for her, too. You get her groceries, too." She was mad and stormed off on her own. Why must Sophie be ever present in anything that they did, she wondered. Owen knew Cristina was angry but he didn't want to fight with her in public. When it was time to cash their groceries, Lula could sense the tension between the two.

"Is everything alright?" she asked. She hated to see them this way. "Fine," Owen said in a strained voice and gave her a forced smile. Cristina didn't even bother to smile. They drove home in silence and packed away their groceries. Owen put Sophie's grocery bags near the door so he could give them to her, when she came home. Cristina looked at the groceries in disgust. She could take no more.

"How much longer?" she asked. "What are you talking about?" he replied.

"I want to know how much longer am I supposed to tolerate Sophie in our lives. She seems to be part of our lives on a daily basis, now," Cristina said.

"I am just helping her out. She is going through a hard time," Owen said. "I would hope that you would have been more compassionate."

"She has to learn to do things on her own," Cristina spat out. "She can't rely on you to do everything for her."

"I am being a friend," Owen said, quietly.

"Oh, really. When you have to go to her apartment at 11 o' clock at night to kill a spider in her bathroom. That is going beyond the call of duty of a friend," Cristina said, her voice was starting to get louder. "You are no longer her boyfriend, Owen."

"I know that, Cristina but I feel bad for her," he said. "She just needs someone and that someone is me, right now."

"Oh, please. Whatever mess Sophie has found herself in, is solely her own fault," Cristina scoffed. "She lied to Julian and he left her. Something as important as the fact that she could walk again, she chose to hide from him because she was afraid that he would leave her."

"Well, it is not like Julian is a paragon of virtue," Owen responded. "He isn't a saint and he shouldn't be so judgemental."

"I am sorry but I think that Julian is the wronged party, in this instance. Julian is far from perfect but he didn't lie," Cristina said, finding herself in the strange position of defending her former boyfriend.

"Cristina, I am hoping that you would understand that I am just helping her out," he said.

"Maybe it isn't just that," Cristina said. "Maybe you still have feelings for her and that is why it is so important for you to keep helping her out. She keeps intruding in our lives. She is using you, Owen."

"I do not have…." Owen started but his sentence was cut off by a knock on the door.

"Just let me take a wild guess who is at our door," Cristina said, sarcastically. Owen gave her a hard glare, as he went to open the door. As they both expected, it was Sophie.

"Hey, Owen, did you get my groceries?" she asked. "Yes," he replied as he handed her three grocery bags.

"Thank you. Just give me the bill and I will write you a check," she said. Owen handed her the bill and was about to close the door when she spoke again.

"Owen, could you come across to the apartment? One of the pictures fell of the wall last night and it is too heavy for me to put back up, can you come across and replace it on the wall for me," Sophie said. Cristina just could not believe this. She could not stand there and listen to this, anymore. She went to the bedroom and slammed the door. Owen felt embarrassed but he followed Sophie across to her apartment. Ten minutes later, he returned home. Cristina was still in the bedroom. She was lying on the bed, aimlessly changing channels on the television.

"Did you have to act that way in front of Sophie?" he said. "That was embarrassing."

"I embarrassed you?" she said. "What? Saint Sophie never embarrassed you before?" She was so pissed, now. The rage in her was intense.

"Cristina, why are you being this way?" he said. He got in on the other side of the bed and tried to touch her.

"Do not touch me," she snapped. "Go touch your Sophie. You clearly care more about her than you do about me."

"That is not fair, Cristina," he said, quietly.

"I don't want to talk about this, anymore, Owen. I am going to bed. You already know how I feel. Just know that I am not going to take this, anymore. I am not going to play second fiddle to your ex-girlfriend," she said. She switched off the television and turned away from him. He knew it was useless to talk to her while she was in this mood.

He went to the bathroom to brush his teeth and looked at himself in the mirror. He could see the tension in his face. He hated fighting with Cristina and this was their first major fight. They had tiny arguments before but nothing like this. He brushed his teeth and then he went to lay next to her. He listened to her breathing until he fell asleep.

When he woke up the next morning to go for his morning run, he stopped by a flower vendor and picked up some roses, as well as their usual breakfast at their favorite bakery. He wanted to make up with her. The fighting between them was something he could not take.

When he got home, he put down the breakfast on the kitchen counter, while he carried the flowers to her in the bedroom. But she wasn't in bed, as she usually was. He checked the bathroom and she wasn't there. Then, he noticed the closet door open. He slumped to the floor, when he realized what was going on when he saw the half-empty closet. She had packed her clothes. She was gone.

* * *

**A/N: Please leave your comments. Thanks for leaving your thoughts.**


	16. Chapter 16 Finding Cristina

He couldn't believe it. She was gone. He picked up his phone and called her. She answered, "Hello."

"Cristina," he said. There was silence on the other end, except for the sound of waves and seagulls. There was a click. She had hung up.

He tried a second time. He didn't even get a chance to speak as he heard her say, "I told you that I was not going to take Sophie being part of our daily lives, anymore."

"We have to talk this out," he said. "You cannot just walk out like this."

"We did talk. Last night," she said. "You didn't say what I wanted you to say. So you made your choice."

"I did not make a choice. I was just trying to help her out. I want you to come home," he said.

"No," she said. "I need some time to myself." She hung up, again. Since the call was longer this time, he was certain that he was hearing seagulls and waves. She was probably at the beach.

He tried for a third time. This time, the call went straight to voice mail. She had switched off her phone.

He was at a loss on what to do and he realized he had absolutely no idea where she would go. She knew very few people in the area. He might as well just go to the beach to look for her. He picked up his car keys to leave, when he heard a knock on the door. He knew that was probably Sophie. He sighed.

"Hello Sophie," he said, as he opened the door. She was already dressed in her workclothes and had her briefcase and handbag in her hand.

"Owen, I need to ask you a favor," she said. It was exactly this that got him in hot water with Cristina. He cringed, inwardly.

"What do you need, Sophie?" he asked in a flat tone. Sophie could tell that something was bothering Owen.

"My car won't start and I am already late for work. Could you give me a ride downtown, please?" she asked, pleadingly.

"Okay," he said. "I am leaving the house now. I have somewhere to go but I will drop you off at your office." It was just as well; he needed to speak to Sophie about all of these favors because it was causing so much conflict in his personal life.

"Thank you so much, Owen," she said. She followed him to the elevator and down to the apartment parking, where they got into his truck.

"Owen, I was wondering whether you can get the mechanic to come take a look at the car," she asked, when they were on the road. When he heard that, he knew it was time to set Sophie straight.

"Sophie, I don't want you to take this the wrong way," he said. Sophie's ears perked up. She knew, immediately that Owen was going to say something that she probably would not like. "Yes," she answered. "Go on."

"I recognize that your situation has been hard, since Julian left and I have been trying to help you out, much to the detriment of my own personal life," he said. What did he mean by the detriment of his own personal life, she thought.

He continued, "I cannot continue being the person you rely on, Sophie. I cannot be the one, killing a spider at 11 in the night. These are things you have to learn to do yourself. Like today, I am taking you to your office because it is what a friend would do but a line has to be drawn somewhere. I am no longer your boyfriend and you have been treating me like your quasi-boyfriend. I have a girlfriend and her name is Cristina and I could be losing her because of this," Owen said.

"What are you saying about Cristina?" Sophie asked.

"Cristina and I had a huge fight last night about you. She thought that you were using me to replace Julian and that you were an intrusion in our life," he said. "She was very angry but I didn't know how angry. When I went for my morning run and came back, she was gone. She had packed all of her clothes and had left."

"I am sorry, Owen," Sophie said.

"Yeah, I don't even know where she is," Owen said. "And I am determined to get her back, Sophie. So that means I will not be so accommodating anymore to any of your unreasonable requests. You've got to stand on your own two feet.

Sophie was silent for a bit. "Okay," she finally answered. "I understand." They had arrived at her office.

"Thank you, Sophie. I am going to give you the name and number of a mechanic so you can call him to see about your car." He took a piece of paper and a pen out of the glove compartment, wrote down the information and handed it to her.

"Thanks, Owen, for everything you've done for me. I hope you get Cristina back," she said, as she left the vehicle.

"Yeah, me too," he said. As he drove off, he decided to go to the beach. That was the only clue he had of her whereabouts. After an hour of searching the shore, he gave up. She was clearly not there, anymore. He wondered what would be his next step. She was a freelance writer. It wasn't like she had a place of work. Her place of work was her home. Where the heck was she staying?

He tried calling, again and it was still going to voice mail. Maybe it was time to leave a message.

"Please, Cristina, let's talk. Call me back," he said. Every day, he would leave a message. He was getting terribly frustrated with the whole situation. At night, especially, he would miss her presence in their bed. He would reach out for her and then realize that there was no one there. Sometimes, he would make random trips to the beach, in the hope that he saw her there.

Cristina was now gone for one week. He had not given up. He considered getting a private detective to track her down. Those were his thoughts as he went to the grocery to pick up some vegetables. He sighed as he went in because this was the place that triggered off their fight. He picked up the vegetables and headed to Lula's station to cash.

"I am sorry that you and your girlfriend broke up," Lula told him, sympathetically. Owen looked at her in surprise. How did she know this?

"I am sorry, too, but how do you know we are having trouble?" he asked. "Is it written on my face or something?"

"No, no," Lula replied. "I saw her yesterday."

"You saw her? Here?" Owen was beside himself. "How did she look?" He was desperate for any news about his girlfriend.

"She looked a little sad. But I knew you guys were broken up, when this new guy picked her up," Lula responded. "You know, slick looking guy, good-looking, dark hair." She quickly added, "But not as good-looking as you, of course."

"Thank you, thank you for telling me," Owen said. He knew exactly who the guy was. That was Julian. She was with Julian. He didn't know whether to be happy or sad. He finally had a lead on where to find her but to know that she was with Julian, was breaking his heart.

He knew exactly what he had to do. He called Information and got Julian's phone number and address. He knew the area – it was near the beach. No wonder he was hearing seagulls and waves when he had spoken to her.

The next morning, he took a run down to the beach and found the house. It was a lovely contemporary style beach house. He took a deep breath before he rang the doorbell. He was armed with baked goodies and coffee. He could hear the shuffling of someone inside, coming to open the door. He hoped it was Cristina. His dream was answered when the petite, curly-haired woman opened the door. Her face showed how completely shocked she was.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I could ask you the same thing," he said. "What are you doing here?"

"I live here," she replied. "No, you don't," he answered. "You live in 6D with me. Seems you haven't remembered that. Are you going to let me in?"

She let him in and he walked in and placed the breakfast on the table. "I brought you some breakfast." She looked longingly at the breakfast because she was hungry.

"Thanks," she said. "How did you find me?"

"Well, I had been thinking about hiring a private detective to find you but Lula, the cashier at the grocery told me. She said that you were there and a slick-looking gentleman picked you up. I knew immediately who the slick guy was. Could only be Julian. Did a little digging and found his phone number and address."

"Well, congratulations on your detective work," she said, a little sarcastically.

"Stop being like that," he said. "Let's be serious, here. I never expected you to pick up and leave. After all, it was our first major fight."

"Well, it wasn't like if I wasn't hinting about my issues with Sophie in our lives. It is just you chose to ignore them," she said. "Then, I just blew up and my rage knew no bounds."

"Yes, I was wrong to ignore how you were feeling but I was just trying to help Sophie out," he said. "I felt sorry for her, especially since Julian had left her."

"As you know, I have always thought that it was Sophie's fault that Julian left. She shouldn't have lied to him," Cristina said. She found herself opening the bag of baked goodies and taking out a muffin. He had to smile. He knew she couldn't resist the pastries. She bit into the apple streusel and closed her eyes, appreciating its crumbly goodness.

"Yes, it was but that doesn't mean I couldn't show some compassion," he said. "Anyway, that is all cleared up now. I have spoken to Sophie and I told her that she needed to stop relying on me, especially since it was negatively affecting my personal life."

"You did?" Cristina said, surprised.

"Yes, I did. Now I need to know. What is going on between you and Julian? Please do not tell me that you have gone back to him because that would just about break me," he said. He could not bear the thought of her being with Julian but he needed to know.

"No," she replied.

"That's it? Just no," he said. "I need to know more than that."

"No, Julian and I are not together. He offered me a place to stay in this beach house he is renting for six months. We are in different bedrooms. We are no more than roommates," she told him. He breathed a sigh of relief. That had been his greatest fear.

"Why didn't you call me?" he asked. "I left you messages every day, Cristina."

"I was just so mad at you," Cristina said, as she sipped the coffee. "I thought you had taken Sophie's needs above mine. I thought that maybe, you still had residual feelings for her. I wasn't going to take that, anymore. I wanted to be your top priority but I felt I wasn't."

"Oh, Cristina," he said, as he walked across to her and held her face in his hands. "You are always my number one. I love you more than anything else in this world. Don't you know that?"

"I guess I need reminding," she said. He bent down and kissed her, softly. As she began to respond to him, the kiss deepened as she rose up to meet him, throwing her arms around his neck. Their kisses became even more fervent, as they had missed each other, a lot.

"I have missed you so much," he said, between kisses. "So let's just get you packed up and you can come back home."

She pulled away from him. "No."

"What do you mean 'no'?" he asked. "Why don't you want to come home?" He was flabbergasted. He thought they had just made up, especially since she was kissing him back.

"I don't want to go back to the apartment," she said. "Sophie is still there and I still have lingering feelings of jealousy."

"You can't stay here with Julian!" he exclaimed. "How do you think that makes me feel? I also have jealous feelings."

"I think we need a fresh start, Owen," she said. "Away from Julian and Sophie and everything else that is tied up with them."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Let's get somewhere new, where neither Julian nor Sophie has been. Somewhere we can start our relationship afresh. The way we met is so connected to Julian and Sophie and those apartments. Maybe I don't want to be reminded, anymore," she said. He understood what she was saying and it was actually a good idea.

"Okay, a new place, a new start, just me and you," he agreed. He took her in her arms, as they stared out at the beach. He knew exactly what he was going to do.

* * *

**A/N Please leave your comments. Thanks for leaving your thoughts. I do appreciate them.**


	17. Chapter 17 A New Place

Cristina finally relented and moved back into 6D. Owen's uneasiness about her living in the same house with Julian far outweighed her jealousy about Sophie. After all, as Owen explained it to convince her, she and he would be under the same roof, while Sophie would be in her own apartment. Plus, he said, they could make love anytime they wanted. If she was living in Julian's house, they couldn't do that, he reminded.

He was ecstatic the first night she came back. They made love and in the middle of the night, when he reached for her, she was there. As he pulled her into his arms, she murmured. He kissed her on her shoulder, saying "It's okay, go back to sleep."

Her relationship with Sophie was polite. They had never been friends. Their major connection to each other had always been Owen. She no longer asked Owen for any outrageous favors and that was fine with Cristina. With that, Cristina began to feel a lot more sympathy for Sophie. She realized that Sophie had made a mistake and it was one she knew that Sophie regretted.

Owen was keeping his promise about finding them a new place. Every day, he searched the real estate section to see what was available. Cristina thought he was looking for a new apartment. She didn't know that he was actually searching for a house. A beach house, of course. There were a few beach houses up for sale, he said, but not any of them caught his fancy. That is, until the day he saw the house of his dreams. It was a contemporary beach house with lots of expansive glass doors and windows and long stretches of balconies that faced the ocean. With five bedrooms, four and a half baths and a gourmet kitchen, it was exactly what he wanted. He always fancied himself in a gourmet kitchen.

He scheduled an appointment with the real estate agent to view this place. He went alone and was completely dazzled by the house. He loved it so much that he immediately made an offer on this place. He was on pins and needles as he waited for the call from the real estate agent about the house. Sadly, he found out that he was not the only one interested in the fabulous beach house. There was also another ardent bidder. His buyer's agent suggested that he up his offer, which he did. The second call he received from the agent made him jump with glee. He had got the house of his dreams. Now, he just had to introduce the lady of his dreams to it.

They were having breakfast, one morning, when he decided to tell her. "Cristina, I found us a new place," he said.

"Great, a new apartment," Cristina said. "Where is it? What building is it? I hope it is nice as this one."

"I think so," he replied with a smile. Cristina still thought that were going to live in an apartment. She was going to be in for a surprise. "I thought we could go and see it, this morning."

"Super," she replied. "I am ready to get out of this place! When are we leaving?"

"As soon as we finish breakfast," he said.

"I am done," she said, eating the last piece of her omelet and draining her cup of coffee. She ran to the bedroom to change.

"Okay, let's get ready," he said, as he chased after her. As they changed out of their pajamas and into street clothes, he could tell she was very excited. His excitement matched hers. He couldn't wait to show her the house. They rushed down to his truck and as they got in, he took out a bandana.

"Cristina, do you trust me?" he asked. "Of course I do," she responded. "Then, turn around," he said. She did as she was told and he tied the bandana around her eyes like a blindfold.

"Whoa," she said. "Is this going to get kinky?"

"No," he laughed. "It is a surprise where I am going to take you. Just remember that you trust me. You could listen to the sounds around you and see if you can figure out where we are going."

"Okay," she said. "I am so, so excited now."

They drove along and she listened intently to the sounds around her. It was when she heard the seagulls, she figured that they were near the beach. "Owen, we're near the beach. I can hear the seagulls. I am pretty sure I am hearing the waves, too. Does this mean we are getting an apartment in one of those buildings near the ocean? That would be so awesome."

Owen smiled. "Well, we are near the beach. You've got that right." She clapped her hands in glee. She had really loved it at Julian's beach house, especially watching the sun go down at night.

He pulled up in front of their house. He got out, opened the passenger side door and helped her out of the truck.

"Okay," he said. "I am going to remove your blindfold. Tell me what you think." He removed the blindfold from her eyes. The brightness of the sun temporarily blinded her a bit, so she rubbed her eyes. Then, she looked at the building in front of her. It wasn't any large apartment building. They were standing in front of a beautiful, white beach house.

"This? This!" she screamed. "Yes, yes," he answered. "This is where we are going to live." She rushed to the front door. "Open it, Owen," she yelled. He opened the door and she rushed into the house. The house was twice the size of the house that Julian was renting. She ran out on the balcony off the living room. The view of the ocean was spectacular.

"Oh, my God, Owen, this place is fantastic. How much are we paying in rent?" she said. "It must be a lot."

"We're not renting it. We own it. It is ours," he told her, with a huge grin.

"We own this place! How?" she said. "How can we afford the mortgage for a place like this?" She could see their finances tied up in this house for years.

"Um, we don't have a mortgage. I bought it," he said. "I bought it for us."

"Uh, did you rob a bank or something? I still don't know how you can afford this," she said, a little unsure.

"Okay, give me your phone," he said. He started going through her apps. "Okay, you see this app that you have there. I created that, and this one and this one. Oh, it seems that you bought six of the apps that I created."

"Huh?" she said, a little puzzled.

"Cristina, I don't just do assignments. In fact, those assignments are just a hobby to me so I can keep myself active. I have created hundreds of apps and they have been very successful. In fact, many of my apps have sold in the millions. I am very rich," he said. Her mouth dropped open.

"But..but…you lived in a one-bedroom apartment, albeit a very nice one bedroom apartment but still a one-bedroom apartment," she said. "Why would you do that?"

"My needs weren't many and living in a one-bedroom apartment fulfilled those needs. I guess I only wanted something like this, when I found the right person to share it with," he said. "This is the life I have always imagined but it wasn't with Sophie. I probably wasn't even aware of it but I was pretty sure I was just waiting for the right person to come along. And then she appeared in my life and I was forever smitten." He took in her arms.

"So this is ours. You did good, Owen," she said, as she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him.

"You have made me very happy that I made the right choice," he said.

"I can't wait to move in. When can we move in?" she said, jumping up and down in his arms.

"How about this weekend? Thankfully, we only have a half-month left on the lease but we can move before that," he said. "I was working on a tight deadline to find a place before the lease ran out on the apartment. Lucky to have found this place."

The next weekend, they packed up their clothes and personal belongings and decided to donate the furniture in the apartment to Goodwill. They were getting all new furniture for the beach house. The furniture in the old apartment was all associated with her life with Julian. Though they spent the first night in the beach house on an air mattress and they had pizza and soda for dinner, it was still one of the best nights of their lives. They were in their own place. They listened to the waves, that night, as they fell asleep.

* * *

It was now three months since they had moved into the beach house. The house was now fully furnished and there was a beachy feel to all of the furnishings. Everything was light in shades of tan, blue, yellow and white, a reflection of the colors of the sand, sea, sun and clouds that were the main elements of the landscape that surrounded them.

Owen now ran on the beach, every morning. Sometimes, Cristina ran with him but not for long, as she often stopped and sat on the sand to watch the waves, as the sun came up. He would come back and find her there, just watching the water. He would come and sit behind her and put his arms around her. They would often just sit in silence. It was a perfect moment, he thought. Life was now filled with lots of perfect moments.

It was on one of those mornings, when they were having one of their perfect moments, with him sitting behind her, that he pulled out a small box out of the pocket of his pants. He handed it to her and she gasped.

"Is this what I think it is?" she asked. "Open it," he said. She did and stared at the cushion-cut diamond ring, which sparkled in the rays of the rising sun.

"Say it," she ordered. He laughed.

"Marry me, Cristina Yang," he said. "Marry me, be my wife, have my children, let's grow old together."

"Yes, yes, yes," she said, turning around and grabbing his face. She gave him the softest of kisses on his lips. "I will be your wife." He took the ring out of the box and slipped it on her ring finger. She put out her hand and they both admired how beautiful it was.

An older couple in their 60s was walking on the beach. Owen yelled, "She just said yes." The couple waved and yelled back, "Congratulations!" The woman said, "I hope you two have many happy years just like me and my Harold."

"We hope so, too," Cristina said. The couple waved again, as they headed down the beach.

"You think we will be like that when we get older?" Owen asked. "Still in love and happy?"

"Sure, why not?" she said. "We have enough love to last our entire lifetime."

"I think so, too," he said. She leaned back against him, while he buried his face in her hair. It was definitely another perfect moment.

* * *

Later that day, after telling their parents about their impending nuptials, Cristina said, "I guess we would have to tell Sophie and Julian."

"Yeah," he agreed. "It seems to be the polite thing to do. It is sad, though, that we are telling them this, when they are so broken up."

"It is," she said. Then, her face just lit up, like if she had an idea. "Maybe we can help them out."

"Oh my God, what do you have in that mischievous mind?" he asked. Cristina sometimes had these wild ideas but he often went along with them. But now, she was talking about getting Julian and Sophie back together.

"They deserve to be happy, too, right?" she said, one eyebrow raised.

"Yes, I guess," he said.

"Then you are going to help me," she said. He had no idea what she was planning but he realized he had no choice in the matter.

"Okay," he said. "Tell me your plan."

* * *

**A/N: Please leave your comments. I do appreciate reading them. Thanks.**


	18. Chapter 18 The Plan

"So that's the plan?" Owen asked, a little incredulous. "YES!" Cristina screamed, triumphantly. "Yes, yes, yes!"

"I do have my reservations about this," Owen replied. "What makes you think that they will even say yes? I mean the whole plan is contingent on both of them saying yes. What if only one says yes and the other says no?"

"You are such a wet blanket," she said, knitting her eyebrows together. "It is all in the way we ask them."

"Okay, but must it happen at our wedding?" he said. "Isn't that a little bit risky? Suppose they have a huge fight and ruin the day for us. It is our wedding and it should be a day for us to remember."

"That's not going to happen," Cristina assured him. "They are both going to be civilized at our wedding."

"Okay, if you say so," he said. "So when are we going to have this wedding?"

"Maybe, a month from now," she said. She gave him a beaming smile.

"A month from now. Oh my God, we don't have much time," he said.

"Well, it is not like if we are going to invite much people. We both don't work in offices, so we don't have co-workers to invite. It will just be your family and my family," she said.

"This is true," he said. "What about venue?"

"Well, it is not going to be that formal, so I thought we could do it on the beach. We have the most ideal spot just right outside of our door. Maybe late in the evening. Then, we can come across to our house and have dinner. My family is only my mom, my dad and my 18-year-old brother. That's three. What about you?" she said.

"Well, I have my dad and my sister," he said. Owen's mom had died of an illness, when he was a teenager. "My sister, Josephine, is married and has one kid. So from my side, it is just four."

"So with your family, my family, you, me, the priest and hopefully, Julian and Sophie, that makes it 12 people for dinner. We can cater for that," Cristina said. "We can do this."

"Okay, fine," Owen said. "Just know there are no guarantees to this plan." He was still uncertain about it.

"Don't you think that they deserve to be happy, too?" Cristina asked. Owen nodded. He did want Sophie to be happy, especially since she had such a rough time of it, lately. If Julian made her happy, then he was willing to do his part. "Okay, you go first, you ask him," he told his girlfriend. "I want to hear your conversation. Put it on speakerphone." Cristina dialed Julian's phone number, while Owen hovered over her.

They heard Julian's crisp voice answer, "Good evening, Cristina. How are you?"

"Hey, Julian. Glad I got on to you. I have some news that I want to share with you," she said.

"Oh?" Julian replied. "Yes," she answered. "Owen and I are getting married."

"Oh," he answered. He didn't really sound too enthusiastic about it. "Congratulations, Cristina. I hope you will be very happy." His lack of enthusiasm had nothing to do with Cristina and Owen. Their wedding just made Julian ponder about his own situation and how badly it had ended with Sophie. Damn Sophie, he thought, if only she had not been so deceitful about her being able to walk. Didn't she know that he would have been ecstatic to find out that she could walk?

"Well, Julian," Cristina started, a little hesitatingly. "I was wondering if you would be my maid of honor."

"What? Maid of honor. Isn't that normally a woman's job?" Julian said, a little puzzled.

"Well, you are my very great friend. You've helped me, when I was down and for that, I am grateful. You let me stay in your house when I had nowhere else to go," Cristina replied. "I would be honored if you would consider being my maid of honor."

"I am very flattered," he replied. He paused for a bit, before he answerd. "Cristina, I would be honored to be part of your wedding party but I am not going to be a maid of honor. I would be your gentleman of honor." They both laughed.

"Thanks, Julian," she said. "What am I supposed to wear?" he asked.

"Well, it is going to be a beach wedding, so it is not going to be too formal, so can you wear a loose white linen shirt and light khaki pants. That is what Owen is going to wear," she said. Owen looked at her, with his eyebrows raised. He didn't even know that he was going to wear that.

"Okay, that's fine," he said. "So when is the date?"

"A month from now," Cristina said. "We're going to have it on the beach near our house. Then a dinner at our house, afterwards. We don't have an exact date as yet. I will fill you in with the details."

"Alright," he said. "Again, Cristina, congratulations. Bye." They both hung up.

"See," Cristina told Owen. "That's the way to do it. It is your turn, now." She handed him the phone. He took a deep breath before he dialed Sophie's number. The phone rang three times before Sophie answered.

"Hello," she said. "Hey, Sophie, it's me, Owen," he said, trying to sound upbeat.

"Oh, hi Owen, how are you doing? How is Cristina?" Sophie asked. Owen was very wary in telling Sophie this bit of news because he knew that she had been hurt a lot both by Julian and by him, to some extent.

"We are doing fine. Um, there is a reason I am calling," he said. He was worried about how she was going to take the news. "Cristina and I are getting married." Sophie went quiet for a bit. Owen cringed, inwardly, at the thought of what Sophie was probably feeling at the moment.

"Congratulations, Owen. Tell Cristina, too. I am sure that you will both be very happy," Sophie said, in what she thought was a cheery voice. There they were, getting married and she was all alone, she thought. She wished things had been different for her and Julian. She missed him so much. She knew she did wrong and if she could see him again, she would say how sorry she was.

"Well, there is another reason that I'm calling," Owen said. "We started off as friends and I am glad to say that we have remained friends, even after our relationship ended. I was hoping that you would consider being my best man or in this case, my best woman."

"What? You want me to stand up with you at the altar?" she said. She smiled. "You actually want me to be part of your wedding party."

"Yes," Owen said. "You are my closest friend, other than Cristina, of course. Would you do us the honor?"

"Yes," Sophie replied. "I will be your best woman. Oh…..what does a best woman wear?" Owen was dumbfounded. He did not have a clue. He turned to Cristina and mouthed, "Help."

"Um, Sophie, this is Cristina, here," Cristina said. "I am going to wear white. So you can choose a light, floaty dress in yellow." She pulled that color out of the air. She hadn't even thought about what Sophie was going to wear.

"Okay, great," Sophie said. "I think I have something like that in my wardrobe."

"It is going to be in a month's time so we will give you all of the details, a little later," Owen said.

"Okay, it's going to be quick. Alright, congrats, guys. Anyway, gotta go, now," Sophie said, before she hung up. Owen and Cristina looked at each other. That went better than they both expected.

"Well, it seems we are having a wedding in a month's time. I guess we better get cracking on the planning," Cristina said, as she pulled out a calendar to look at the dates. "Plus we have to book the priest, the caterer, the cake, the flowers, the deejay and we have to get a marriage license. Then, we have to decide on what I am going to wear, since we know what you are going to wear. I suppose we don't have to do formal invitations since it is just our families."

Owen groaned. One month to plan a wedding, he thought. Thank goodness, it was a small, family wedding.

* * *

One month later, it was Owen and Cristina's wedding day. Since it was such a small wedding, they didn't bother with having a rehearsal and dinner. It was just as well. If they had such a rehearsal, Sophie and Julian would have known about each other's role in the ceremony.

So, there it was, on Owen and Cristina's wedding day, when Sophie and Julian realized that they would have to walk up the aisle, together. Julian stiffly put out his arm for Sophie to take, as as the violinist started the music. Neither of them was going to make a scene, as there was no way they were going to spoil the day for Owen and Cristina. They separated at the top of the makeshift aisle, with Sophie stepping to Owen's side, while Julian went to the bride's side.

Then, Cristina came down the aisle with her dad. Her dress was white, strapless and flowy, complete with barefoot sandals. It was perfect for a beach wedding. Owen could not stop smiling as he saw her. As her father handed her over to him, Owen took his lady love's hand into his. "You look lovely," he said. "I am so happy that you are my bride." She grinned at him, "You are so lucky," she teased.

The priest started the ceremony and it was when he was talking about love and forgiveness and compromise as ingredients to making any relationship work that Julian gave Sophie a glance. He had been avoiding looking at her, during the ceremony. She looked so pretty in her yellow dress and her blonde hair falling loose to her shoulders. She caught his glance and smiled at him. She had missed him so much. She made up her mind that she was going to apologize. It was the least she could do. Even if they didn't get back together, she would have peace of mind that she said it.

After exchanging rings, the priest said, "You may now kiss the bride." As Owen and Cristina kissed, the sky behind them was a spectacular orange, as the sun began to set. Owen felt like his heart was about to burst. He felt so happy. He was married to the love of his life. Cristina looked up and whispered, "I love you, Owen Hunt."

The wedding party made their way to the beach-house, which had been decorated with lights and yellow and white flowers. After all of the speeches, everyone sat down for a sumptuous meal that was catered by Owen and Cristina's favorite restaurant. After dinner, there was a little dancing but mainly conversation. Sophie found Julian on the balcony, staring out at the ocean.

"Hey," she said. He looked at her and said, "Hey, yourself."

"You look good," she said. Julian smiled, "So do you." They both started to say something at the same time, then they stopped. "You first," Julian said.

She came and stood next to him at the balcony railing. "I just wanted to say that I am so sorry for lying. I really should not have done that. I was just scared. I thought one of the reasons you were staying with me was because you thought I needed you since I was in the wheelchair. I just panicked at the thought of losing you because I love you. I was wrong. But it didn't matter, anyway, because you still left. I am so sorry."

He looked at her with sympathy in his eyes. He sighed. "If you had told me that you could walk, I would have been so, so happy for you. For us. We could move forward with our lives and put that behind us. When you lied to me, I was really angry. I could not believe that you could hide something as important as that from me. We're supposed to be in a relationship."

"Yeah, I regret lying to you with every fiber of my being. I hope in time you could forgive me," she said.

"I forgive you, Sophie. I know I am a stubborn man but I heard the priest talking about forgiveness being essential to a relationship. It made me think that I had to let go of it," he said. He took her hand into his and squeezed it.

"Thank you," Sophie said. "It means a whole lot to me."

"Do you want to take a walk on the beach?" he asked. "Even though it is a little dark, the lights from the houses will light our way."

"Yes," Sophie said. "There is nothing more I would like to do." As they headed down the stairs to the beach, Owen and Cristina observed them.

"See," Cristina said. "They are going to take a walk on the beach. And you know how romantic the beach is."

"Okay, you win. I am cautiously optimistic that they are going to get back together," Owen said. "You may have done it. It is a good thing you told the priest to mention love and forgiveness." He took her in his arms and kissed her on her nose. "Today is the best day of my life, Mrs. Hunt."

"I concur, good sir," she said. "The best day of our lives."

* * *

**A/N Please leave your comments. Thanks for leaving your thoughts. I do appreciate that when you do**.


	19. Chapter 19 Baby Blues

Cristina had tossed the last of her birth control pills the day they got married. She wanted to try for the baby. It would probably take a couple of weeks for her body to get back to its normal rhythm. When they went on their honeymoon to St Barts, she told him that she wanted to try for a baby. His face broke out into a huge grin.

"That would be wonderful, Cristina," he said. "Think of how much fun we are going to have while trying, starting from tonight." In the beginning, it was fun, a lot of fun, but as the months passed, it no longer became that much fun. It was all about timing and taking temperatures and using ovulation kits and having sex almost on command. Then, there was the disappointment. Every month, when her period came, she would sit in the bathroom and cry. Six months had passed and still, she could not get pregnant. He found her crying in the bathroom with another negative pregnancy test.

He sat down next to her. "Maybe it is time we go see a doctor," he said. "We are not getting pregnant. Let's just find out if anything is wrong. It could be me."

"Or it could be me," she whimpered. "What if we never get pregnant?" She sobbed and buried her face in his chest.

"Cristina, there are so many things we could try. We are living in the 21st century. Many infertile couples have been able to get pregnant through all kinds of methods – IVF, surrogates. Or maybe we could just find out what's wrong, correct it and then, we could have our baby the natural way. But if not, there are alternatives, so we can't give up," he said, comforting her.

"Okay, we will go and see the doctor," she said. As soon as she dried her tears, she made an appointment at a fertility clinic. The doctors there, specialized specifically on infertility issues. They were assigned to a Dr. Gupta. When they were shown to his office, they stared at all of his credentials hung up on the walls but what fascinated them the most was the wall of baby pictures. Even as she examined all of the babies, she had to admit that some babies were really funny-looking. She hoped that their baby would not be one of those.

Dr. Gupta came in and saw them looking at the pictures. "Those are some of my own personal success stories," he said. "Well, hopefully, you will join them. Come, have a seat." Owen and Cristina sat down. He looked over their charts.

"You're only 24 years old, Cristina," Dr. Gupta said. "And you are 31, Owen. So how long have you been trying?"

"About six months," Cristina replied, quickly. "It has been a very frustrating six months."

"Well, what we can do is to take you through a series of tests, Cristina. Check your hormonal levels to see if you are ovulating, also we will probably check to see if there are tubal blockages, or adhesions from endometriosis or the existence of fibroids," Dr. Gupta said. "Also, we will probably have to check Owen's sperm count." Owen looked a little taken aback but he didn't say anything. He knew it probably had to be done but the indignity of it all.

"So, Cristina, we are going to start with some blood tests, today, as well as an ultrasound, so let's go the exam room, next door?" Dr. Gupta said. "Owen, you could stay here." Cristina followed the doctor into the other room, while Owen hoped everything was going to be alright.

It took two weeks for all of their tests to be completed. Dr. Gupta had all of the test results and he looked at them. "Well, it seems that there is nothing wrong with either of you." Owen grinned but Cristina was puzzled. "Your hormonal levels are normal, indicating you are ovulating. There are no blockages, no adhesions, no fibroids. All of our tests have indicated that everything is working. Owen's sperm count is also healthy and normal."

"So what have we been doing wrong?" she asked.

"I don't think you are doing anything wrong. What I can tell you is that you continue trying for another six months. Just continue what you're doing and let's see what happens. If, by that time, nothing has happened, we will start to look at alternative methods," he said. "Maybe what you can do is relax, Cristina." When they left the office, Cristina was totally dissatisfied.

On the way home, she said, "I was totally hoping something was wrong to explain why we're not getting pregnant and then, he could fix it and we could get pregnant. When there is nothing to fix, it just makes it worse." Secretly, Owen was glad that there was nothing wrong with either of them but he could tell that Cristina's frustrations were getting her terribly upset. So he didn't say anything but just nodded.

It was another two months of not conceiving. As she tossed away the negative pregnancy stick, she came out of the bathroom to see Owen on the phone. "Congratulations," he said to the person on the other end. "Cristina and I are very happy for the two of you. Okay, well, thanks for telling me. Goodbye."

"Who was that on the phone?" she asked. "And why were you congratulating them?" Owen thought for a moment before he answered. What he was about to say was probably going to make Cristina upset, he realized.

"Um, that was Sophie," he said. "She just called to tell me that she is three months pregnant. She said they were now starting to tell people the good news, now that she has passed the critical first trimester." He watched Cristina's expression change, as she heard the news. She was already upset about the negative pregnancy test and now to hear that Sophie was pregnant, she dropped to the floor and burst into tears. He went to her and took her in his arms, as she cried.

"Why?" she said. "We are the younger couple. It should be easier for us. Sophie is 10 years older than me and she is pregnant." She started blubbering, as the tears streamed down her face. He rocked her, until she stopped crying.

"I am okay, Owen," she said, as she got up and dried her tears. "I am going to take a walk on the beach."

"Hold on, I will come with you," he said. She looked at him with sad eyes, "It's alright, Owen. I think I just want to be alone." Two hours passed and she didn't return. He had been getting worried and wondered if he should go look for her on the beach. He was about to put on his slippers when he heard the door open. "Hey," he said. "I made a sandwich for you." She cut a small, forlorn figure with wind-whipped hair, as she came in.

"Okay, thanks," she said. She sat down at the table and started eating her sandwich and drinking her juice. To Owen, she seemed different from when she had left, earlier.

"Are you okay?" he asked. "Fine," she said, with a forced smile.

"If you want to talk, we can," he said. "No, I am alright," she said, quietly. After eating her sandwich, she disappeared into the bedroom. When he looked in on her, he could see her tossing her thermometer and ovulation kits into the wastebasket.

"What are you doing?" he asked. "What's the point?" she replied. "It is never going to happen. I am not going to get pregnant. I might as well accept it."

"But the doctor said we should continue trying for a couple more months," he said. "Then, maybe we could try IVF or something else." She looked at him and replied, "Maybe I need a break from all of this emphasis on baby-making. I am just so tired of it."

He was disappointed that she seemed to be giving up because he did want a baby but he could tell that her frustrations were making her depressed. Maybe a break would help and perhaps, later down the line, she would want to try, again. At least, he hoped so.

"Okay, maybe that's better for now," he said. "Let's just not worry about this, anymore."

"I guess I should call Sophie and offer my congratulations," she said. "It probably is the gracious thing to do." He watched as she picked up the phone and called Sophie. "Hey, Sophie. Owen told me the news. Congratulations. You and Julian must be very happy. " He heard her laugh but he knew it wasn't her real laugh. It was just to be polite.

"Okay, well, keep us updated on your progress," Cristina said. "Goodbye." She hung up the phone but Owen could still see a single tear, running down her cheek. He went and sat next to her on the bed and they hugged.

It turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Not worrying about getting pregnant reduced the tensions in the Hunt household. There was not this total focus on getting pregnant, anymore. Owen did not have to perform on command. They just made love, whenever they felt like it. It made life a lot easier and more carefree.

Cristina had become so relaxed that she actually helped Sophie choose her nursery colors. They even were attending Sophie and Julian's engagement party. Though she had initially resented it, Cristina knew that it was not Sophie and Julian's fault that they got pregnant when she and Owen could not.

At the engagement party held at Julian's recently bought beach house, Sophie was beaming, as a woman who was six months pregnant, should. She showed Cristina her engagement ring. "He finally is going to make an honest woman out of me," Sophie said, with a huge smile on her face. Cristina was glad that Sophie finally seemed so happy.

"So when are you guys going to try and start a family?" Sophie asked. "Julian and I weren't even trying. It just happened."

"Soon," Cristina said. It was now three months, now that she and Owen had quit trying. She found it tiresome when people found out that they were married and kept asking when they were going to have a baby. It wasn't necessary to go into their whole history, she thought. All she had to say was "soon," and most people were satisfied.

"Oh, good," Sophie said. "You and Owen are going to have gorgeous babies." That hurt Cristina when Sophie said it because there was a possibility that those babies would not exist. "Yeah," she agreed. She thought she needed a drink and went to the bar. She ordered a vodka tonic but found herself unable to drink it. She stared at the drink. Owen came up behind her and put his arms around her. "Hey, you," he said. "Are you having a good time?"

"Good enough. Great that they live so close to us, we could be home in a jiffy, when we are ready to leave. What were you doing?" she asked.

"Well, I was caught up with some political chatter with Julian and his friends from the bank. After a while, the argument got a little too heated and I had to step out of there. So I was ecstatic to see my beautiful wife at the bar. Aren't you going to have your drink?" he asked. "You are just staring at it."

"I don't know. I just don't feel for it, anymore. Maybe I should just have some coconut water," she said.

"Bartender, coconut water for my wife, please," he said. The bartender poured out a large, cool glass of coconut water for Cristina, as he took back the vodka tonic. She took a sip of the coconut water. "Ah, that is much better," she said. He took her hand and they went out on the balcony to watch the waves.

"Isn't it ironic?" he said. "We moved out of the apartment building to find a new place on the beach and it just so happens that Julian buys a beach house just 15 houses away from our own. We're still kind of neighbors."

"Yeah," she said. "Do you think they would notice if we just slip away and walk home on the beach?" Owen looked around. "I don't think they will miss us but it is best I say something before we leave." They both drained their drinks and she watched as Owen told Julian that he was leaving. Julian waved as they went down the steps and on to the beach to walk home.

"I was starting to feel tired," she said. "No problem," he said. "Let's just go home." When they got home, they changed into their pjs, brushed their teeth and settled in for the night. It was about 4.30 a.m, when he realized she was not by his side. "Cristina," he called out. She didn't answer him but he was certain that he heard someone crying from the bathroom.

"Baby, are you hurt or sick?" he asked, before he entered. He found her sitting on the floor and hugging her knees. He could see the tears on her face.

"What's wrong?" he said. She handed him the stick in her hand. "Look." He stared at the unmistakable PREGNANT sign on the window.

"We're pregnant, Owen," she said, as he realized her tears were not of sorrow but of joy. He bent down and kissed her on her mouth. "I didn't know you still had pregnancy kits. I thought you tossed everything away."

"No, I just kept one, just in case because deep down inside, I never really gave up," she said. He wiped away her tears, as he kissed her, once again. They were getting the family they always wanted.

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**A/N Please leave your comments. Thanks for your reviews. I do appreciate when you leave your thoughts.**


	20. Chapter 20 The Best Life

_**A/N: FINAL CHAPTER**_

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When their baby daughter, Ava, was born, Owen thought he never saw a more beautiful sight. The doctor allowed him to cut the umbilical cord, then the nurse wrapped the baby in a blanket and placed it on Cristina's chest. He never knew he could love anybody as much as he loved his wife and daughter.

"Hey, there Ava," Cristina cooed at the baby. "How are you doing? Daddy and I have been waiting for you for a while."

"She is so beautiful, Cristina," Owen said. "She has got dark hair, too. I bet you it will be curly." Cristina had to agree that their baby girl was beautiful.

When they took her home, they were both afraid that they were not going to be able to take care of this delicate creature. For her every cry, they rushed to take care of all of her needs. They wanted to make sure that she was safe. They had many sleepless nights with this baby. She got up several times at night, crying to be fed or wanting her diaper changed. Both Cristina and Owen shared the duties so they were both bleary-eyed during the day. They slept when the baby slept. They were grateful that neither of them had to go in to an office for work. Cristina was secretly grateful that Owen was very rich because it meant that they didn't have to worry about making a living while they took care of their baby.

When they resumed sexual relations, six weeks after Ava's birth, they were so happy to be able to enjoy each other, once again. After their first time, they tried to cuddle for a bit but were interrupted by the sound of their daughter, crying on the baby monitor. They both looked at each other, Owen remarked, "At least she had the decency to cry after we were finished."

"Well, she has got good timing," Cristina said, as she got up to go see about their tiny daughter. "No," Owen said. "Stay, I will see about her." He got up and put on his pj bottoms and went to his baby daughter's room. "Hey, Ava," he said, as he picked her up from her crib. "How ya doing? You're hungry?" He checked her diaper and it was not full, so she had to be hungry.

He walked to the kitchen and heated up a bottle of milk to heat it up. Cristina had pumped out the breast milk, a little earlier during the day. Ava was not fussy; she accepted both the breast and the bottle, equally, as long as she knew she was getting fed. He sat on an armchair in the living room, where he could get a good view of the waves crashing on the shore. He looked down at his baby, sucking at her bottle. She had a great appetite, for which he was grateful. After she finished her bottle, Owen carried her back to her nursery and rocked her to sleep. He placed his sleeping baby back into her crib, before heading back to Cristina in their bed. Cristina had already fallen asleep, so he got into next to her and pulled her close.

He could not imagine that he could experience the level of happiness that he was feeling at this present time.

* * *

When Ava was five months old, they were hit by a surprise. Cristina had not been feeling all that well. She had been vomiting and she was afraid that she had the flu and would pass it on to the baby, so she went to the doctor, hoping for a quick fix. She came back home with a different set of news.

Owen was sitting with the baby on the balcony, when Cristina made her way into the house. She came and sat down next to him on the balcony.

"So how was it at the doctor's?" he asked. "Are you feeling any better? Did he give you any medicine?"

"Yes, but not the kind of medicine that you think. He gave me vitamins, supplements and anti-nausea medicine. I don't have the flu," she said. "I am pregnant."

"What!" Owen exclaimed. "Pregnant. So soon? Again? Really? Wow."

"Well, if we are being honest with ourselves, we have been a little bit lax on the birth control. We had such a hard time, getting pregnant with Ava, it seemed that we probably wouldn't get pregnant again and we kinda didn't really keep up with it," she said, in a very resigned voice.

"So are you unhappy about this?" he asked, excitedly. "Because I am quite happy."

"Well, I am just a little put out by the fact that Ava is only five months old and we're going to have another baby, already," she said. "But it is okay. It is our baby and I will love him or her as much as I love Ava. We make good babies."

"Yeah, we do," he said, as he kissed her."By the way, when are you due?"

"I am already two months along," she said. "So seven months from now, I guess. Ava will be a year old. That means they will probably be exactly one year apart."

They both fell silent and watched the ocean for a bit. "Cristina, it is going to be just awesome."

Seven months later, they found themselves at the hospital. This pregnancy turned out to be a lot easier than the first one because Cristina knew what to expect with the changes in her body. She also turned out to be less moody but her cravings were enormous. Owen would find himself at the store in the middle of the night, getting three different types of Ben and Jerry's ice cream.

Ava had turned one, two weeks ago. Cristina had been grateful that they were able to give Ava a proper first birthday celebration, though she hated how she looked in the photos, since she was highly pregnant. Julian and Sophie had brought across their son, Aidan, who was six months older than Ava, to the birthday party. Ava was now at Sophie and Julian's house, while Owen and Cristina went to have the baby. For the second time in a little more than a year, Owen cut the umbilical cord for his new baby daughter, whom they named Zara, who also had her mother's dark, curly hair.

When they brought Zara home, Ava was totally enamored with her little sister. They brought in another crib to the nursery, so the two sisters shared a bedroom, together. That was the beginning of a bond between the two sisters, as Ava always wanted to take care of her little sister, even though she was just a baby, herself.

Owen loved his two daughters, very much but deep down inside, he still wanted a son. Though he never expressed this view to Cristina, he sometimes envied Julian roughhousing with his son, Aidan. If Cristina never wanted to have any more children, he was fine with that but it was difficult to roughhouse with his two, delicate little girls who were small and fine-boned like their mother. Even though he never expressed it, Cristina knew that Owen wanted a son. She wasn't even sure she could get pregnant, again. After all, her first pregnancy took months to happen, while her second pregnancy seemed to be a fluke.

When Ava was four and Zara was three, Cristina visited the doctor to see whether it was possible she would be able to get pregnant, once again. She and Owen were not really using birth control, yet it seemed like nothing was happening. It was just like before Ava was conceived. She secretly took her temperature and checked her ovulation and persuaded Owen to make love when the time was right. It took six months of trying, before she got the PREGNANT sign on the window of the stick. She hoped that this time, it was a boy. Owen was ecstatic about the new pregnancy, even more so when they found out, a couple months later, that she was, in fact, carrying a baby boy. Cristina was relieved.

When Noah was born, he was like Owen, fair and blonde. His sisters loved him at first sight. They thought he was a living doll. Ava, as the oldest, thought it was her duty to protect her younger siblings. She was a little bit bossy but that was because she thought that she knew best.

To complete the family, Owen finally got the family dog. He always said that he wanted two dogs but given how small their children were, one dog was adequate. Maybe when they got older and could help take care of the dog, then they could get two dogs. They decided to get a beagle, which they named Barney.

* * *

"Come on, kids, let's go to Uncle Julian and Aunt Sophie's house. We are going over for lunch," Owen said one Saturday. "Get your beach shoes on and we are going to walk across." Six year old Ava and five year old Zara quickly found their shoes and found themselves on the balcony, ready to go down the stairs to the beach. Cristina was carrying one year old Noah on her hip, while Owen had corralled Barney into a corner and got him on a leash.

"We get to play with Aidan's toys," Ava told her younger sister. "He likes me." Zara nodded, accepting everything her sister said as gospel.

As they walked down to Julian and Sophie's house, Owen looked at his little family. He was so proud of them. His two daughters were beautiful with their long, dark curly hair flowing in the wind, while his wife carried their blonde son. "Do you want me to carry him?" he asked. "And you can take Barney's leash." She gratefully handed Noah over. Even though he was only a year old, Noah was a solid little boy and could get quite heavy, if held for long.

"Hey, there buddy," Owen said to his son, who rested his hand on his father's face. "Dada," Noah said, with a sunny smile. When they finally got to Julian and Sophie's house, Aidan came out and greeted them. He took Ava's hand and they went to play, with Zara following behind them. After everyone had lunch, the grown-ups were on the balcony, having a drink, while Noah sat in Julian's lap and Barney lay at Cristina's feet. It was quiet time for the adults, while the children played with each other.

Their peace was interrupted by yelling emanating from Aidan's room. Aidan and Ava were clearly having an argument.

"It's mine and you can't play with it anymore," they heard Aidan say.

"Here, take back your stupid old truck," Ava said. There was a little bit of scuffle before they heard Aidan say, "I don't like you, Ava Hunt." To which Ava replied, "I never liked you, anyway, Aidan Jones." The little girl stormed out of the room, followed by her little sister.

"Mommy, Daddy, Zara and I would like to go home," Ava declared. "I don't like somebody living here."

"Okay, Ava," Owen said, as he went to pick up Noah from Julian's lap. "I guess we better go. Thanks so much for having us over for lunch. Sorry to have it end so abruptly."

Julian shook his head. Cristina got up to follow her daughters, who were already headed down the stairs. "Thanks Sophie, Julian for everything." She looked back and saw Aidan standing at the doorway of his bedroom. The blonde boy had tears rolling down his cheeks, as he watched the Hunt family leave. "Mark my words, folks, I am pretty sure they are going to get married, someday," Julian said, surveying his son's emotional state. "Ava is already making him cry."

"Ah, well," Owen said. "Good bye, all."

The Hunt family started their walk back to their beach house. The two little girls ran a little way ahead of their parents, while Owen walked with his arm around Cristina, while holding Noah with his other arm. Cristina held on tightly to Barney on his leash.

There was a young couple, sitting on the beach, watching them. "Look at that family," the young man, whose name was Peter, said. "With the two little girls, the baby boy and the dog. Don't they look perfect, together?"

His girlfriend, Shaira, replied, "Yes, they do. The girls are beautiful and the little boy is so cute."

"What do you think?" Peter said. "That could be us, someday." He put his arm around his girlfriend. They both waved at Cristina and Owen, who waved back at the young couple.

"Remember when we were like that?" Cristina said.

"Yup," Owen said. "I used to dream about our family, together. And now, everything has come true. This, Cristina, is the best life ever." She snuggled and against him and repeated his words, "The best life ever."

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**A/N Please leave your comments and reviews. Thank you for taking this journey with Cristina, Owen, Sophie and Julian. I hope you have enjoyed reading this story as much I have had the pleasure to write it.**


	21. Chapter 21 Epilogue

**A/N: Yeah, I know. Chapter 20 was supposed to be the last chapter. However, a reader, cogromit, suggested to me that I write an epilogue about what happened to the kids, as they grew up. These are their stories.**

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_**AIDAN AND AVA**_

Aidan Jones had always carried a torch for Ava Hunt, from since even before grade school. He loved her dark, curly hair and her pretty face and the way her eyes lit up, whenever she smiled. To Aidan, Ava was perfection. They were friends through much of grade school but in high school, when Ava became extremely popular, she left behind her childhood friend.

Aidan was a late bloomer. He was quiet and small for his age. He was a good-looking boy, blessed with his father's good looks and his mother's blonde coloring. But he was also shy. While Ava bloomed in high school because of her fabulous looks and keen sense of fashion, Aidan was not so lucky. He watched as his friend become part of the top echelon of high school society. Ava seemed to attract the flashy, good-looking jocks, who ruled the school with their athletic prowess.

Aidan joined the debate club, in an attempt to help him overcome his shyness. To his surprise, he turned out to be extremely good. He was very smart and thought quickly on his feet and because of this, he set one of the most winningest records in debate club history. His success in the debate club led him to aspire to become a lawyer, just like his mother. Sophie was extremely proud that her only child had decided to follow in her footsteps.

When it came time to choose college, both Aidan and Ava decided to go to New York for school. Ava had always had the flair for fashion and was accepted at Parsons The New School for Design. Aidan decided to do pre-law at Columbia University. Their parents urged them to keep in contact with each other, since they were the only people they each knew in Manhattan. They didn't really keep in contact until the day that Ava had that huge fight with her roommate, who kicked her out of the apartment, since the lease was under her roommate's name. She called Aidan, crying. Aidan, who had always loved Ava, came to get her. She almost didn't recognize him, when he came. New York had been good to Aidan. He had found himself there. He really wasn't a California boy but more of a New York soul. He had grown taller and his body had more muscular definition. Ava always knew that Aidan had a good-looking face but he was now handsome.

He took her and her belongings back to his apartment and told her she could stay with him, until she found a new place. He offered her his bed and he slept on the couch. He turned out to be the best friend she ever had. She was ashamed of the way she had treated him in high school. He went with her as she tried to find a new apartment but they didn't find anything they liked until they found this brilliant two-bedroom apartment that they both loved. Aidan's lease was soon to expire and when they looked at each other, they decided in that instant to take the place and become roommates. They signed the lease and moved in together. Aidan allowed Ava to take the bigger room with the walk-in closet. After all, she did have more clothes and shoes.

They found that living together as roommates, they greatly enjoyed each other's company very much. Ava was found herself falling in love with Aidan but she never said anything until the day, one of their sexy model neighbors started showing a little too much attention to him. Ava defended her territory like a Rottweiler, as she put the woman in her place. Aidan had never seen Ava react like that in his life. It actually made him feel flattered, as well as it made him want to ask questions.

When things had calmed down, he asked her why she had reacted that way. "Because I love you, you idiot, and you haven't even noticed, Aidan Jones," she yelled at him. His mouth dropped open. "I have loved you, forever and you haven't even noticed, Ava Hunt," he yelled back at her.

"Well, okay, then," she said. "You might as well just kiss me." And so they did kiss for the first time. It was the first of many kisses in their relationship. They got married when Ava graduated from Parsons and Aidan started Columbia Law School. Ava got a job, working at Ralph Lauren while Aidan continued in law school.

They had their first baby, the next year – a girl they named Arabella. Two other children joined the Jones household – Aaron and Andrew.

* * *

_**ZARA**_

Zara didn't really get out from her older sister's shadow, until the eighth grade. Till then, she had always pretended to like the fashion, the clothes and the make-up because her sister did. But when Ava left to go to high school, Zara found out her true love was science. She just wasn't good at it; she was outstanding. So outstanding that she won a nation-wide science competition for elementary school students. Her parents were extremely proud.

Zara was different from Ava. They were both extremely pretty girls with their long dark curly hair and their blue eyes. But that's where the similarity ended. Zara was studious and loved academics. She prided herself in bringing home straight A's. In high school, she decided she was going to be a medical doctor. She really wasn't too interested in high school. It was a means to an end. She never went out on dates because she was just not interested. She was more about being an academic over-achiever. She was accepted to five Ivy League schools and eventually chose Harvard, where she wanted to continue on to medical school. She dated during college but no one really caught her eye.

It was at medical school that she finally head over heels in love. His name was Caleb Robertson from Marietta, Georgia. He was tall, handsome and had the most easygoing nature, a reflection of his southern roots. It was he, who taught Zara to slow down and smell the roses and that there was more to life than ruthless academic perfection.

When they both graduated from Harvard Medical School, they got married and found jobs in Portland, Oregon. They enjoyed living the Pacific Northwest lifestyle in the Craftsman style house they had bought. It was in their second year of residency that they found out they were having twins. It was hard being parents and surgical residents but they survived it, as Zara became a pediatric surgeon, while Caleb became a neurosurgeon. Their twins, Sam and Luke, were the lights of their lives.

* * *

_**NOAH**_

When Noah was nine years old, he was doing Internet research on a project on some of the poorest countries in the world and was dismayed to find that many children were not as lucky as he was. Here he was, in his own room, with his own computer and television, living on the beach in Santa Monica, and there they were, without parents or shelter over their heads.

He made up his mind, right there and then, to start building orphanages in these countries, when he became a grown-up. He told his dad of his plan. It made Owen proud that he was raising such a conscientious, amazing kid. As soon as he graduated from college, Noah decided to start a charity that would help build orphanages in some of the world's poorest countries. He initially started with seed money from his dad but soon enough, his work soon caught notice of the media and he was featured in magazines and news programs. His foundation started to attract corporate and wealthy donors and he was able to build orphanages in many countries all over the world.

It was at a fund-raising event that Noah met the love of his life. She came up to him and said that she would like to work for his charity, as she greatly admired his work. Her name was Caroline Townsend. Later, he found out that she was the daughter of a CEO and chairman of a Fortune 500 company. But that didn't matter to Caroline. She, like Noah, was a child of privilege and they were both willing to give back to those who didn't have. He had found his like-minded soulmate. They had their first child, Owen Noah, two years later and a year after that, they adopted a child from Cambodia, a girl they named Gabrielle. Two years later, Noah and Caroline finally married, with both of their children present at the ceremony. After they got married, Caroline gave birth to their third child, Malia.

* * *

_**OWEN AND CRISTINA**_

"Did you really have to promise them this as their Christmas present?" Cristina said, groaning, as she looked back at her grandchildren at the back of the van. Owen, Cristina and their eight grandchildren, were headed to Disneyland in Anaheim. They had rented a 10-seater vehicle for the day.

"Yes," Owen said. "It will be an amazing experience." The children were extremely happy as they sang loudly and gave Cristina a headache. Owen grinned at her. "Cristina, it is going to be fun. Remember when we carried our kids for the first time." She scowled. "That was only three kids. There are eight of them and only two of us."

When they finally got to the park, it was a day of too many rides, too many snacks, too many bathroom breaks, too much complaining, too much crying and too much walking. By the end of the day, both grandparents and their grandchildren were exhausted. As Owen drove back, he looked around; all of the kids were sleeping. His wife too, was asleep. He gave her an adoring look. Though there was some grey in those beautiful, dark curls, her face was still unlined. They had so many good years, together as a couple and as a family.

She suddenly woke up, as if she could feel his eyes on her. "What's up? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"I was just remembering the good times we've had. I can remember the day I met you when I helped you move in to the apartment across from me," he said. "My heart was taken the moment I saw you."

"You are a good man, Owen Hunt. No wonder I love you like I do," she said. She reached over and squeezed her husband's hand. "You made me into a better person." She gently kissed him on the cheek.

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**A/N: Please leave your final reviews. I am glad that I wrote this epilogue. It sort of completes the entire story. Hope you enjoyed it. And yes, this is the end.**


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